


The Man Or The Devil?

by Fandomsaremylifebro



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Abused OFC, Armor Kink, Ben Urich doesn't die, F/F, F/M, Foggy knows, I wrote out Wesley, Karen knows, Not Season 2 Compliant, Not Season 3 Compliant, OFC is a bit dark, OFC is nearly blind in daylight, OFC is pansexual and proud, OFC is tall, OFC was tortured as a kid, OMC is a dick, Sensory Deprivation, She ain't putting up with his shit, Slow Burn, Tags will be updated., They both have touch aversion, Touch-starved Matt, Touch-starved OFC, Uniform Kink, Vigilante OFC, Yeah we're all a bit fucked up here, bcuz we don't have enough tall badass girls in this world, ignore me, it's nothing dirty I don't think, kind of "dark" daredevil, she has knives, she's like 5'9 so not that tall just taller than me, sorry (not), sort of dark fic, sorta - Freeform, use of derogatory language, why did I do this again?, you'll understand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-09-13 20:16:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16899183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomsaremylifebro/pseuds/Fandomsaremylifebro
Summary: Amber Steel, a virtually blind 24 year old, spent years being abused by her ex-boyfriend, Garret Laar, in a tiny Hell’s Kitchen apartment with a shitty job and no family. It’s been almost 4 years since then and Amber has been acting as a Vigilante since a few months after the split. With her ex back in the picture, and her identity in danger of being discovered, she needs a lawyer who can help her with her case. Either way, Matt Murdock is nothing like she expected.The Ghost of Hell’s Kitchen had existed for almost four years unknown to the public before someone got a picture. Used to dealing with common criminals and working alone, the Ghost is suddenly thrown into a world of ninjas, human trafficking, and a vigilante in red who reminds her more and more of her lawyer. As her past starts coming back to haunt her, she will need the help of Daredevil to lay it to rest once and for all.Set around the beginning of season 2, he’s got the Daredevil armor and is being amazing but nothing important from season 2 has happened. (Yet)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first time writing/posting fanfiction! Warning for this is some derogatory language directed at Amber and mentions of Abuse. Um. I don't know if I’m all that great at this? And I don’t really know where I want this to go, but take this so I can go hide! *Throws fanfiction and hides behind couch* Enjoy?  
> I own nothing but the plot, Amber, and Garrett.

Amber crossed the street to her car, her groceries hung over her arm as she fished through her purse for her keys. She opened her trunk as soon as she found them, dumping her bags in the back of her car and closed it as quiet as she could. The car was dark blue, her dad bought it in 2008 when it was new and gave it to her 2 years later. The paint was chipped in some places, but it got her from point A to point B so she didn’t see the use in getting a new one. Amber turned, walking around to the drivers’ side and fumbling with her keys until she was pushed up against her door by a sickeningly familiar weight. 

“It’s a little late to be out Amber, you know how much it would kill me if something bad happened to you,” Garrett’s voice hissed in her ear, the smell of cigarettes and booze almost overpowering, “I’ve missed you,” 

She pushed her ex away and straightened her outfit as she looked him in the eye, “What are you doing here Garrett? I have a restraining order and you’re violating it,” 

Garrett waved a hand as if it was nothing, “Come on Amber, I know you miss me too. Come over, and you’ll see,” He reached out a hand to her, only to have it slapped away, “Listen here you ungrateful little cunt, I am the  _ only _ person in this world that gives a damn about you so you better come with me or we’re gonna have a problem!” 

“No, Garrett, I’m not going with you,” Amber crossed her arms and scowled, “Get away before I call the police.” 

Amber got out her phone only to have Garrett make a grab for it, taking it from her as she cursed herself for coming out here in the first place. He made a show of pocketing the phone as she spotted a figure in dark red descending from a building across the street. She had a small smirk on her face, tuning out Garrett’s threats in order to get a better look at the vigilante in red. His armor was a black and red material, covering his body protectively. His batons were in hand and little devil horns were protruding from the mask. She grinned at the thought. 

“-What you smiling about little bitch?” Garrett glared at her, stalking forward until they were so close she could taste the cigarettes and booze on her tongue, “Thinking about that slutty girlfriend of yours? You dirty faggot.” 

Amber couldn’t stop herself, she slapped him across the face for that, his neck making a satisfying noise as his head snapped to the side. He rubbed his cheek and glared at her, stepping forward from where he had stumbled back.

“You little-”

Garrett was cut off by the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen grabbing him by the collar and shoving him to the ground.

“Hands off,” The Devil spoke in a growl, “Didn’t your parents ever teach you ‘no means no?’” 

Garrett stumbled up from the ground, his face bloody with what was probably (hopefully) a broken nose.

“Try it again, and I won’t go so easy on you,” The Devil looked him in the eyes again, Garrett mumbling apologies and rambling about how he wouldn’t do it again. 

“Go,” he said, “Stay out of Hell’s Kitchen,”

Garrett ran away faster than Amber thought possible, not looking back.

“He won’t listen you know,” She mumbled to the man in red.

“I can deal with him then. Are you alright miss? Did he hurt you?” She stared into the eyes of the Devil, him staring right back.

“No, don’t worry about it. His name is Garrett Laar. We dated a while back. At least I have a second reason to sue him now, maybe he’ll finally go to jail,” Amber checked him out as discreetly as possible.

A barely there smile stretched across his lips, “Good, I hope you win your case miss…?”

“Amber. Amber Steel,” She paused, giving a fake sigh in relief, “I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up,” She  _ almost _ cracked a smile. She could take care of herself, but then frowned suddenly as she realized, “Shit, bastard took my phone… Thanks anyway though.” 

“Don’t mention it. Just get home safe and get a good lawyer. You will get your phone back,” She watched as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen ran into the alley across from her and jumped up onto a roof. He gave a little wave in her direction as he sprinted away across the rooftops. She got into her car and started it, locking the door as she pulled out of her spot and onto the road.  _ Well,  _ She thought,  _ Newspapers don’t do him justice. That man is damn _ fine. 

*          *          *

The next morning she managed to peel herself out of bed in time for her to make a phone call to a lawyer’s office, slipping on her shaded glasses before opening her blinds to allow her to adjust to the light a bit at a time. She looked through the folder of business cards she had, having already thought about this before, and stopped when a business card fell out of her jacket and onto her floor. “Nelson and Murdock,” It said, “Attorneys at law.” It sounded familiar but she didn’t remember picking it up. How had it gotten into her pocket? Amber opened her laptop and did a quick search and found it right away. It was a small firm, but they had won every case they had gotten so far, including the one that put away Wilson Fisk. That must have been why it sounded familiar! She called immediately, wanting to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Her emergency phone wasn’t great, but she had it just for situations like this. The phone was picked up before it even started ringing and a cheerful female voice, who introduced herself as “Karen,” on the other line informed Amber that she was indeed calling the right place.

“Hi! I’m Amber, and was wondering when I could make an appointment?” 

There was rustling on the other end of the line for a moment before the same voice from before spoke again, “We have an opening in about half an hour if that fine with you?” 

Amber nodded, thinking that would give her enough time to clean up a bit before she had to go, “Oh! Yes! Sorry, I was nodding,” 

The woman on the other line giggled slightly and spoke in her cheerful voice again, “It’s okay! See you then!”

After she hung up Amber set to work, gathering her files and brushing her teeth as she rushed about, putting on a formal outfit, a light blue undershirt with a nice black jacket and long pants. She looked longingly at her black tennis shoes but knew they wouldn’t work, turning to glare at her heels distastefully. Amber  _ loathed _ heels, they were uncomfortable and made her feet blister. Resigned to her fate, she put the black shoes on and tightened the straps before walking the few blocks away from her apartment to Nelson and Murdock. Entering the door and hoping she had the right place, she adjusted her glasses and looked around the room. She squinted, noticing a few chickens and copious amounts of baked goods, mostly pies. A blonde woman at the desk said a quick greeting, smiling and calling for someone named “Foggy” before turning back to her.

“Watch’ya got there?” The woman (Karen?) inquired, gesturing to the stack of folders and papers in Amber’s arms.

“Evidence for my case, I’m suing my ex for violating a restraining order and harassment, along with abuse in the past,” Amber smiled at the woman, despite the words that had just come from her mouth. Once upon a time, the thought of him would make her knees go weak and a panic attack sink into place. Now? Now she just wanted him gone.

Karen gasped, “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry!” 

“It’ll be alright, he’ll be gone soon,” Amber replied, the false sympathy making her slightly uncomfortable.

“Alright. If you need anything, I may not be a lawyer but I’ve been told I’m a pretty good friend,” Amber smiled, maybe it wasn’t completely false.

“Got that right,” A man stepped out of his office and extended his hand he had long sandy hair and was wearing a dark grey business suit, though it could have been a lighter shade if she weren’t wearing the shades, “Foggy Nelson, it’s good to meet you miss…”

“Amber Steel,” She gripped his hand and shook it, “Will I be meeting the other half of Nelson and Murdock today or will it just be you and me?”

“Matt will be with us shortly. If you want we can start now?” He motioned towards a door with a semi-translucent glass window.

“If we could please,” Amber walked behind him as he strode into the room, “I need to get this out of the way so I can finally move on with my life,”

“I like your attitude, Ms Steel,” He sat down across from her, “Now, why don’t you tell me a little bit about your case?”

Amber cleared her throat and set her folders down in a neat stack on the table, “I’m suing a man named Garrett Laar, for three things; Violating a restraining order, harrassing me which happened last night, and Abuse from when we were dating,” 

He let out a deep sigh and cracked his wrist, she could see how angry this made him, “Alright. That Evidence?” He pointed to the stack of files.

“Yes,” Amber sifted through them, feeling for the labels until she found a specific folder and handed it to him. “Here is the-”

The door opened, and a blind man in a black suit, who you assumed was Matt Murdock entered the room and sat down next to Foggy, extending his hand for her to shake, “I’m Matthew Murdock, I am sorry about being late, I had some case files to review,” 

“It’s fine of course. I was just going to explain to Mr. Nelson the extent of the injuries I have received at the hands of the man I am suing,” Amber shook his hand, noting a barely there smile on his lips just before it fell.

He nodded and folded his hands on the table, “You can continue. Did I miss anything important?” 

Amber waited patiently while Foggy filled his partner in, continuing after that to provide evidence and answers to their questions. They seemed to have decided to take her case after hearing the charges, as both had a determined look on their faces. It almost seemed as if they were now officially in charge of being her personal protectors. She almost laughed at the thought. 

“So will you be taking my case?” Amber asked as the meeting was coming to a close, standing up.

“Yes of course! I don’t think we could  _ not _ take this case considering what you’ve been through!” Foggy stood up with her and straightened his jacket, “If you can leave the files we can look over them again in more detail,”

Amber nodded and cracked the first genuine smile she had since entering this room, “And I promise I’ll pay you in money, not chickens or pastries,” 

“Yes! Finally!” Foggy looked as if he wanted to jump up and down, the thought was amusing, “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that,” 

Amber smiled again, “And I as well, Mr. Nelson,” 

He smiled back, “Call me Foggy,” 

“Well thank you for your help Foggy, Mr. Murdock, ” Matthew smiled in her general direction and she felt her heart flutter as the man smiled at her. What was with the her and men lately? She walked out of the building and almost jogged on her way home, wanting to get out of those blasted heels.

*         *         *

It was four in the morning in Hell’s Kitchen. Amber stood on top of an apartment complex, searching for anything unusual. Not many people knew of her acts as Vigilante, most of her acts these days were pegged on Daredevil. She didn’t care. She’d rather people not know of her. Those who did (mostly police) called her “The Ghost” Or just Ghost, because of her mostly white armour and tendency to fight almost invisible in the dark. It was a bitch to clean if she got blood on herself but it was worth it. The almost butterfly-shaped mask obscuring her face was a light purple, high-grade kevlar and the rest of it was white and purple, a cloak obscuring her body until she attacks, giving her the appearance of a ghost. Her image was helped along by white paint covering her exposed skin. She was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t hear the shouts coming from a second rooftop. She looked over and saw Daredevil himself, fighting off what looked like ninjas. Actual real-live ninjas. Hell’s Kitchen just kept getting weirder. It was about a dozen against one and he was holding himself very well for the amount of enemies he was facing. She ran quickly, her footsteps quiet until she leaped onto the rooftop where they were fighting. He was throwing a few off the rooftop just as she jumped over to help him. She threw a knife at the closest man, who had turned in attempt to dodge it, but was too slow. The knife embedding itself in the small of his back, the man biting down on a shout of pain. She retrieved it and threw the man off the building, drawing a second knife and holding it up just fast enough to block the man’s punch and cut into his fist, which he ignored and swung again, catching Amber in the gut just as she pulled her knife through his forearm, causing him to stumble and give her an opportunity to make a long cut across his face and punch him hard enough to knock him out. She couldn’t tell how the Devil was doing, but she heard the sounds of fighting and there were still about six ninja people. And then she was back to back with him. Amber worried for a moment he would mistake her for another enemy but thankfully he didn’t. He tossed his baton at a ninja who had woken and was about to attack her, knocking him out again, just as she threw her knife into the gut of the man behind him. From then on it was almost like a game. She would toss knives and he his batons, retrieving each other’s weapons and tossing them back and forth until the men were all dead in the alley or unconscious on the rooftop. Amber was breathing hard, adrenaline wearing off, but the smile on her face was one of joy and she saw that Daredevil was wearing the same one. 

“That was fun,” She smiled in his direction as he laughed.

“Yeah. I suppose it was,” His smile turned into a frown as he shouted, reaching for a baton a second too late, “Look out!”

Amber turned and saw it before she felt it. They had been so distracted with the adrenaline rush that they didn’t notice one of the ninja’s get up and try to stab her in the neck. The knife found its home relatively deep in her left shoulder, and she kicked him as hard as she could in the gut and watched in satisfaction as he fell to his death, the knife wound suddenly blazing in pain. Amber grunted and pulled it out, covering it with her hand as she fished the bandages out from under her now tied off cloak.

“Will you be alright?” The Devil looked her in the eyes, his hand twitching as if he wanted to touch her, “I can help with that if you want,”

She sighed, almost tempted to let him. Bastard got her on the dominant arm, would be a bitch to stitch it up by herself. 

“I’ve got it,” She sat down on the edge of the roof, swinging her legs over the side. She got out a needle and thread along with her portable disinfectant wipes, starting to clean her wound.

“Hey, please let me, it’s my fault you got hurt,” He sat down next to her, “Please?”

“It’s not your fault, I let down my guard, and  _ I’m _ the one who decided to help  _ you _ ,” 

He scratched at his neck absently, “Yeah, thanks by the way, without you, I’d probably have ended up in a dumpster. Claire would be angry,” 

Amber made a humming noise as she began to stitch up her wound, “She your girlfriend?” 

“What? No. Nurse friend. Found me in a dumpster. Thought it was relevant,” He chuckled as Amber huffed a small laugh.

“Common occurrence yeah?” She was halfway done when her hand started shaking, her non-dominant arm not used to the stress.

He sighed and gently took the needle from Amber’s shaking hand. She didn’t protest, knowing it was futile and allowing him the small victory.

“You new around here?” He asked silently, working quickly.

“No. Been a vigilante here for about 4 years now. People just usually don’t see me. I’m pretty quick, and light on my feet,” She grimaced as the needle went through her skin again. 

“There, done,” He tied the stitches off and stood, reaching a hand down to help her up, “What do I call you then?” 

She accepted his help and stood, dusting herself off, “Well the mobs’ just call me ‘bad luck,’ but the cops call me ‘The Ghost’ or just ‘Ghost,’” 

He nodded, “Alright then, Ghost, get some rest, maybe take a night off. You need it,” 

“I’ll be fine Devil,” Amber rolled her eyes, looking over to where the sun was rising, squinting her eyes as the light was nearly blinding to her abused eyes. 

A huff of laughter made her realize what she said, “Ha-ha it’s shorter than Daredevil and I’m not wrong,”

“Didn’t say you were,” He grinned at her as she shook her head and walked over to where he was standing, taking him in for the first time in relative daylight.

In the new light, Amber saw a cut on his cheek and got out a disinfectant wipe, along with a band-aid, cleaning it quickly and trying not to blush under the heated stare he was giving her. 

“There, now we’re even,” quickly kissing his cheek, Amber didn’t wait for a response, just ran towards the gap between buildings and cleared it in one, leaping from building to building until she got home and slipped into her bed, knowing she wouldn’t be sleeping much. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

*         *        *

Halfway across the city, a Russian man with blond hair woke with a shout, finding himself cuffed securely to a hospital bed. His wounds were extensive, being found half dead in an alleyway and not likely to survive.

“Sir, calm- I need you to calm down,” A nurse addressed the man, who was babbling in Russian, “Sir, can you tell me anything about the person who did this to you?”

“ П-Призрак,” His English was hoarse and broken as the nurse asked what that meant, “The-The Ghost. Sh-she is here for me…” He started shouting in Russian again and the nurse watched in helplessness as the man’s heartbeat picked up and then slowed dramatically, him passing away in silence, the monitor flatlining. Who in Hell’s Kitchen was the Ghost?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you for reading! Chapter takes place about 4 days after Ch 1 and is a bit longer than the last. Not by much tho. Warnings are brief mention of rape/abuse and sober!Garrett. I didn’t warn violence last time because I thought it was a given when I tagged “OFC was tortured as a child” but if you want me to add a tag for violence I will. It’ll probably get more graphic the further into the story we go. Enjoy!  
> I own nothing but the plot, and my OC’s.

Amber opened her eyes and hissed in pain. Squeezing them shut, she reached out and searched her nightstand for her shaded glasses. She stumbled slightly as she walked over to her window to close her blinds. A sigh escaped her as she leaned against the wall, once more bathed in darkness. It had been  _ years _ since she had forgotten to close her blinds, not since she and Garrett split. But in her defence, last night had been rough. Another encounter with ninjas (She still couldn't believe it. There were  _ actual fucking ninjas _ in Hell’s Kitchen) had left her bloody and bruised. She almost didn’t make it back before sunup, her eyes just starting to sting as she jumped into her apartment. Her clock made a noise, alerting her it was time to get ready for work. Amber pushed off of the wall, heading for her bathroom for a shower. Steam filled the room as she pulled off her sleep clothes and stepped into the warm water. The blood on her skin left over from the previous night was washed off, the soreness and tension in her muscles being slowly worked out. Allowing herself a long, hot, shower wasn’t a luxury Amber could usually partake in, working minimum wage for a restaurant didn’t exactly allow for many things. She saved by not paying for cable, skimping on other various things, but she was still struggling to pay rent every month. She turned off the water after the thought of her rent, getting out and wrapping herself in a towel. A glance in the mirror told her she would have to break out the concealer. Her face was littered with bruises and scrapes. Hopefully no one would ask about them. A huff of laughter followed that thought, of course they would, knowing her luck. She ran her finger across one cut, grimacing in pain. Yay for her. It took her almost 15 minutes to get a natural looking skin-tone over the bruises and a butterfly bandage over the cut on her nose. She was out the door the second she was ready, slipping her shades on and slinging her purse over her shoulder. The sudden light once she stepped out of the apartment caused her to go nearly blind for a moment, closing her eyes as she started on her way. She was lucky to live so close to work, choosing to walk today instead of drive. Her feet carried her down the street, passing the law firm that had taken her case. A newstand caught her attention and she opened her eyes slightly, squinting at the front-page article. “THE ‘GHOST’ OF HELL’S KITCHEN” was the headline. She felt her knees go weak as she blinked rapidly, her face paling until it matched the shade of the paper. There was a picture of her in the Ghost armor, mid-fight with knives in hand and cloak tied off, a truly feral expression gracing her normally kind face. 

“You gonna buy something lady?” The man at the newsstand directed at her.

“Um- Yeah. Yes. How much?” Amber decided at last minute that she should see how much they knew about her.

“$2.50. Can’t you read?” He gestured to the sign on the stand that probably said something about the price. 

“Not in this light,” Amber handed over the money and took a paper.

She opened to the article and squinted at the pages, reading as best as she could on her way to work.

_ “Over the course of the years, Hell’s kitchen has had many heroes and villains. The latest of these is a female vigilante, dubbed ‘The Ghost’ by local police, who has been active for the past four years. Sources in the 15th precinct say that there has been differing opinions on whether or not she should be allowed to continue, or taken into custody. ‘I honestly think that she’s been doing some good,’ said Sgt. Brett Mahoney, ‘But no one save a court of law should decide who lives and who dies.’ There have been over a dozen confirmed homicides committed by the vigilante. Although none were completely unjustified-” _

Amber collided with the man in front of her, lost in the article. When she looked up she saw that it was none other than Matthew Murdock.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr. Murdock, I didn’t see you there,” She folded the paper and adjusted her glasses, “I was so absorbed in the paper I forgot to watch where I was walking,”

He smiled, “It’s alright, Ms. Steel. What were you reading that had so much of your attention?” 

“An article about this new vigilante, ‘The Ghost,’” Amber paused, holding in a gasp at the wounds on his face, similar to her own, “Heard anything about her?”

Matt hummed in recognition, “Yes. Not much, just that she’s a good fighter and has been active for a while now,”

“Yeah I was just reading about that. I think it’s kind of cool what she does. Besides the killing of course!” Amber winced, she answered too quickly.

“Think there’s any relation to Daredevil?” Matt adjusted his stance, his walking stick in his left hand.

“I don’t know. Maybe? I’m sure they’ve seen each other before, they live in the same city right?” Amber fiddled with the strap on her purse, he asked all the right questions.  _ He’s a lawyer, idiot, _ she scolded herself,  _ of course he asks all the right questions. _

“It would make sense, although I bet there’s many more variables than us civilians can understand,” the smile was back on his face, it looked almost fond.

A quick glance at her watch had her reeling, “Shit, I’m gonna be late for work. We’ll be meeting soon to set the court date?”

He straightened where he stood, immediately looking more authoritative, “Yes of course, I should be on my way as well. We will be in touch, Ms. Steel.”

“Have a good day Mr. Murdock,” She smiled in his direction, knowing he couldn’t see it. 

“And you,” He walked away after that, the conversation had effectively taken her mind off of the fact that people now knew she existed. 

Now that he was gone, and she was forced to continue on her walk in solitude, the panic returned tenfold. The air didn’t seem to be entering her lungs properly, and spontaneous combustion did not seem to be out of the picture. She picked up her pace, hoping she’d get to work before a panic attack set into place. It didn’t work. Soon she was forced to stop, walking into an alleyway to trying to get her breathing under control. It had been  _ months _ since her last panic attack, she didn’t need one right now. She started humming and absently rocking herself back and forth, the Polish lullaby calming her almost immediately. The haze set in then, blocking out her emotions after about 3 minutes of sitting. She stood up again and began walking, readjusting her glasses from where they had slid down her face. It was 5 minutes until her shift started when she walked in the door, the dark of the restaurant calming her all the more. 

“Amber! Thank god, there you are!” her friend Gwyn ran up to her in her waitress’ uniform, “I thought I was going to have to cover your shift!”

“Aw, have a bit more faith in me. I wouldn’t do that to you G,” She tried for a teasing tone, but it fell slightly flat, and Gwyn’s smile fell.

“Shit, are you okay?” Gwyn gestured at the cuts on her face while she walked to the back room, “Is- did he come back again today?”

“No! No, nothing like that,” She assured Gwyn.

“Good. Because if he lays another finger on you, I’m gonna punch the son of a bitch so hard it echoes in his head for years,” Gwyn threatened to no one in particular.

Amber sighed fondly, “I’m just- It’s been a long week,”

“Okay. But if you need  _ anything _ , you let me know. Okay?” Gwyn looked at her, taking off her glasses and purse for her and putting them in a locker, “We don’t need you getting stressed out,”

“I promise Gwyn, and thank you,” Amber hesitantly patted her friend on the shoulder, being rewarded with a bright smile as Gwyn started changing into her day clothes, “Have a good rest of the day!”

“You too hun, text me!” Gwyn gathered her belongings and walked out of the room.

Amber cursed when she realized that she still hadn’t gotten her phone back, and Gwyn was probably wondering why she hadn’t been responding. Resigning to her fate and deciding to email her friend, she looked in the mirror and gave her best smile. If one didn’t pay attention to her eyes, then she almost looked happy. Several deep breaths later, and failed attempts at breaking through the haze, she stepped out of the room to begin her shift. Overall it was an uneventful 6 hours, only one complaint, which was the fault of the kitchen staff. It resulted in the customer speaking to the manager, not her so it wasn’t bad. Changing out of her work clothes and into her normal ones, she felt the haze finally start to dissipate again. She slipped on her shades the moment she walked out of the room, heading across the street to a cheap diner that she usually ate at. She had just ordered when none other than Garrett himself slid in across from her, sober, for once in his life.

“Garrett,” Amber set down her drink, adjusting her glasses, “I told you, I have a restraining-”

“Amber, just hear me out. Please,” Garrett was pleading with his eyes, his hair was combed and he was wearing formal clothes, “I really do miss you, I need you to listen to what I have to say,”

She sighed, checking her watch, “You’ve got 5 minutes,”

A smile spread across his face, reminding her of better times, “Thank you Amber, you won’t regret it,” A deep breath later and he started talking, “I- I’m really trying to change Amber. A few days ago, that wasn’t me, it was the booze and some other stuff you know. That was the first time in a few months I even  _ touched _ it and I really fell off the wagon there,” He slid her phone across the table, lit up with dozens of texts from Gwen, “I’m sorry about that night Amber, I really am,” He paused suddenly, looking down at the table.

“2 minutes, Garrett. Hurry up,” Her voice was monotone, not believing a word out of his mouth.

“Are- Are you still seeing… her?” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “If you are, that’s fine, I’ll respect that, but if not then I um- I want another chance.”

She stared at him incredulously, “You abused me, for  _ years _ , and every time I gave you chance after chance. Every time, you just hurt me more. Raped me, took another piece of me for your collection. ‘One more chance?’ I told you four years ago that I was done with how you treated me, done with everything. Why are you  _ just _ coming back now?”

He ran his hands over his face, “Take off your glasses Amber, I want to see your eyes,”

Her hands twitched subconsciously, itching to follow the order to avoid punishment, “The light hurts. You know Garrett, I told you that. And you blamed  _ Gwyn _ for my decision to wear them, decided that it couldn’t be  _ me _ that was disobeying, it couldn’t be  _ my _ choice. Because there’s no way in hell that Amber could  _ actually  _ make her own decisions!”

“Amber-”

“No. Time’s up. Get out before I call the police,” She gestured behind her to the door.

He sighed as he stood up, “You’ll regret making me leave Amber, I promise you will,”

“Not likely,” Her food arrived just as the door closed.

“You alright ma’am? I saw you yelling,” The waitress serving her food asked cautiously.

She hummed as she took a bite of her food, “‘M fine. Just a problem with an ex,”

Her shoulder throbbed in agony as she ate her burger, the soreness from the previous night and today’s stress catching up with her. An encounter with the ninjas tonight would not be good. She paid and left, heading home for the rest of the day before her “night job.” A glance at her watch made her groan. It was only 3:30.

* * *

Amber rolled her shoulder a few times to get rid of the stiffness in her shoulder. She had done some exercises, trying to help but it hadn’t done much. The glasses she wore were off, her night shift was to start as soon as the sun went down. White leggings were first to go on, the thin stretchy fabric allowing for movement under her armor. The next piece was a high-grade kevlar shirt, alternating patterns of white and purple that made people dizzy if you stared at it for more than a second. Kevlar padding was strapped onto her legs, extra on her torso as well. The white, oil based makeup was applied over her hands and face. The dark purple under her eyes gave her the ability to see better when fighting in lit places. Her hands were wrapped, and her mask was tied into place, her pixie cut red-brown hair was covered in baby powder, making it look near white. The last piece, the crown jewel, was her cloak. The hooded fabric was smooth, reinforced Kevlar and had intricate patterns sewn onto the outside. It hung just above her knees, and when she tied it up with the straps of fabric it protected her arms and back. Back in the beginning, the heavy armor slowed her down significantly, she was always taking hits and getting hurt. After about a year of non-stop training, it stopped making her feel so useless. Then there was the time with Garrett and- No. She didn’t need to think about that. He didn’t deserve her thoughts. She opened her window and edged onto the fire escape, closing it and looking out for anyone that could have seen her. Not seeing anyone, she flipped off the fire escape and landed on the roof of the next building, her alter ego “The Ghost” taking over as she searched for people in danger. It had been almost an entire night of stopping muggers and robberies before she saw him, looking a bit beat up, a cut on his cheek was oozing blood. He was perched on a rooftop, watching as three muggers surrounded a woman holding her purse close to her chest. They moved at the same time, taking out the three muggers and a fourth who joined them in the fight. They both escaped without further injury but Amber’s shoulder was aching again. 

The Devil smirked at Amber, turning and addressing the woman, “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. I-I-I’m fine thank you,” She looked over at Amber with wide, terrified eyes, “Are- Are you her? The Ghost?”

Amber blinked slowly, her dead, emotionless eyes gave her a slightly more threatening look, her hood obscuring all but her eyes and her chin. No need to have anyone knowing what she sounded like, they already had too much on her. She crouched down, her eyes not leaving the terrified woman as she pulled one of her knives from the unconscious mugger. The Ghost stood up slowly and sheathed her knife, untying her cloak and saluting the woman. She leaped up and grabbed onto the fire escape, swinging up until she reached the roof, sitting down and rubbing her shoulder.

“What’s with the silent act?” Daredevil walked over to where she was sitting, still massaging her shoulder, “Your shoulder still hurting?”

Amber mumbled something about “Damn motherfucking ninjas,” before turning to address the Devil, “I’m silent because they know I exist!” Amber stood up and began pacing, “All over the newspapers, everyone knows!”

Daredevil looked amused.

“I am  _ this close _ to having my identity outed.  _ This. Close. _ ” She held up her thumb and forefinger about half an inch apart, “I’m gonna have to lay low for a while. Hell, I might have to  _ leave _ , get a new identity, change my name or whatnot. How the everloving  _ fuck _ did they even  _ get _ a picture of me? I’m careful! It’s been years, and I’ve spoke to one person in costume and that was you! I think I’d remember if Daredevil took a picture of me.” 

“Yeah, wasn’t me,” he grinned, “I’d ask first,” 

Amber looked unamused, “Don’t joke now, I’m having a crisis,” She sat down cross-legged against the door as she watched the horizon start to glow, rubbing her shoulder again.

She looked up when she heard him move, seeing him standing above her, about two feet away, arms crossed.

“Does the picture show your face?” He directed at her.

“Not without the mask,” She couldn’t see his point. They knew about her now, it was only a matter of time before they figured it out.

“Does anyone have any videos of you?” The pose made him look like a parent scolding a child.

“No, I always stay away from any recording devices. Plus most crimes aren’t committed near cameras,” Amber sniffed a bit, the cold from the building seeping into her bones.

“Does anyone know your identity?” 

Amber hesitated slightly, “Maybe? I’m not sure, but I think if he saw me fight or just saw me in costume he’d know it was me,”

“So no one knows for sure and there’s no evidence except an amutuer picture taken by someone who you probably saved?” He asked her as she stood up, dusting herself off. 

She tilted her head up at him, he was about an inch taller than her and had a serious partial-expression, “Yeah I suppose,” She paused, a bit shy, “Thanks. I didn’t think of it like that,”

“No problem,” He was suddenly crowding her against the door, looking down at her.

Her heartbeat sped up, “What are you-” 

Then his mouth was on hers in the filthiest kiss she had had in years, his teeth dragging along her bottom lip. She stiffened, her eyes wide as he pulled away.

“What- What was that for?” She hated how breathless she sounded.

“Payback for last time,” He smirked and then ran in the opposite direction, leaping onto another rooftop as she stared in shock.

She turned around and started to head home, “Damn sexy vigilantes,”

* * *

Taking off her cloak and mask as she entered the building, she collapsed on her bed, staring at nothing in particular. If she closed her eyes she could still feel the ghost of the Devil’s lips on hers. She sat up abruptly, deciding a second shower today couldn’t hurt. She folded her costume, locking it in a trapdoor hidden under a box beneath her bed, and stepped into the spray of water. Her talk with Garrett today had been similar to talks in the past, reminding her of bad times and times they were happy. How had it all gone so wrong?

_ “Hey, Amber! How was work today?” Garrett walked over to the door and pulled her in for a sweet kiss, “Did Gwyn end up fired?” _

_ “No!” She smiled at him, “She got off easy. It was so funny, I’ll tell you the story over dinner. Just got to start it.”  _

_ Amber set down her bags and walked over to the kitchen, only to find a creamy pasta dish on the table with two glasses of wine. There were candles and the lights were turned on low. _

_ “Oh Garrett! Did you do this?” Amber covered her mouth with her hands, turning to the sheepish looking man. _

_ “It’s probably not as good as yours, but I wanted to do something nice for you and I figured you might like this,” He shifted on his feet, “Do you… Do you like it?” _

_ “It’s  _ beautiful _ Garrett,” She gave him a hug, “I love it,”  _

_ Amber sat down with Garrett, saying the common table prayer before taking a bite, “You did really good for your first try Garrett! This is really great!” _

_ He smiled as he took a sip of his wine, “Could you maybe take off your glasses? I love seeing you so happy and your eyes are beautiful,” _

_ She looked at him with a shy smile on her face before taking them off and setting them down, revealing over-dilated eyes with a ring of silver around them.  _

_ “See?” He looked at her lovingly, “Beautiful,” _

The cold water snapped her out of her daze. She quickly turned it off to get ready for bed, putting on her silk nightgown and slipping into her bed. She would be sore tomorrow, she knew. The blinds were closed, her glasses on the nightstand and her lights turned off. What would her next interaction with the Devil bring? What happens now? As she drifted, she dreamed of a man in red and black.

* * *

“Matt, you can’t keep doing this to yourself!” Foggy yelled, standing next to an angry Karen, “You’re gonna get killed and there’s nothing we can do!”

“Foggy,” Matt replied, “I can take care of myself, there’s no need to worry,” 

“No need to  _ worry _ ?!” He threw his hands up in the air and started pacing, “You almost  _ died _ tonight, Matt! That is something that needs worrying about!”

“I have some help,” He winced as he pulled the needle through his skin, tying off the stitch.

Foggy scoffed at the same time Karen spoke, “Oh yeah? Who’s out there stopping you from killing yourself?”

Matt looked up at Karen, hoping he got where she was right, “The Ghost,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I have some of this fic planned out now and I have to say, it’s a bit of a trip. I might be able to make 1 chapter a week but I want to keep this slow going so I don’t make too many mistakes. If you have any ideas, let me know and I might be able to write them in! Also there’s a lot more OC’s than I thought there would be in this. Hope you enjoyed! Pls comment and tell me what you think! Bye! -Σ


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey… So, 2 things; 1) long chapter is long. This one’s about 5200 words, the last two were around 3300. So… Yay me? 2) I looked it up and it turns out that Matt’s only a defense attorney, not a prosecuting one. But for the sake of this fic and my (partial) sanity, I’m just going to say that Nelson & Murdock can both defend and prosecute. *Shrugs* I really don’t know, let’s all just pretend I know anything about law. Anyways, this Chapter takes place about a week and a half after Ch 2 and has punching. Enjoy!  
> I own nothing but my OC’s and the plot.

“So, Ms. Steel. How do you want this to play out? How long do you want to put him away?” Mr. Murdock sat across from her, his hands folded on his desk. He looked like a good Catholic boy.

“If we weren’t in New York, I’d want to have him put  _ down _ . But we are in New York, so I think life without the possibility of parole should be adequate. Though he’s probably going to come up with a counterclaim, just so you know,” Amber didn’t let any emotion show, her inner turmoil not needing to be expressed.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, “Good thing we have a lot of evidence then. You realize this case may take a while right?”

Amber sighed, leaning her face into her hands, “Yeah. He’s going to lie to the court and they’ll believe him over me.”

“What makes you think that?” Matt leaned forward slightly.

“Because I lived with him and loved him for 4 years, and he’s gotten really fucking good at lying,” Amber felt through the tags on the files on his desk until she found the one she was searching for, “In these pictures, I’ve got fingerprint bruises on my neck. A week before that happened he managed to convince me  _ and _ all our friends that he was going to quit the booze and go out to find work. I believed him. That time, and the next, and the next. He fooled me, and he would probably fool me again if I actually listened to anything he said,”

He nodded, taking the photos and running his fingers along the braille notes beneath it.

“Pardon me for prying, but I’ve noticed you use braille tags. You can’t be completely blind, I haven’t heard you use a walking stick,” He inquired, “Is there a real reason you use it? Or is it just because?” 

She sighed, knowing this question was going to be coming up sooner or later, “I can’t see well in light… I  _ can _ see, but it’s better in the dark because my pupils are over-dilated,”

When she met Mr. Murdock, she could immediately tell that he was a man who enjoyed learning. He always looked interested when she talked about some topic or other, leaning forward in his seat as if he could somehow consume more knowledge that way. 

“So… You can see…  _ too _ much?” He asked.

“Yeah. I guess you could put it like that,” Amber supposed it was better than saying, ‘The muscles that dilate and constrict my pupils were taken out by my mad scientist of a mother when I was 4 and now they’re stuck super dilated.’

“Can I hold onto your braille copies?” Matt looked (sort of) at her.

“Yeah, sure. I’m kind of busy today, I should probably get going,” Amber stood and picked up her purse from where she set it on the ground.

“Alright,” Matt stood up and held out his hand, “We will speak again soon, Ms. Steel?”

“Of course Mr. Murdock,” She gave him a quick, firm, handshake before leaving the building, her glasses pushed back up onto her face.

A split second decision had her walking away from her apartment. She knew she had work to do, finding more evidence, and she still had to ask Gwyn if she would testify. Her legs took her past the same newsstand she had passed the previous week. They were still speculating about whether or not she was a criminal, not even putting too much thought into who she was. She scoffed to herself. Of course, the Devil was right. Soon enough she reached the old gym where she learned self-defense. The gym didn’t get much business these days, and would probably have closed if it hadn’t been a state-owned building. Amber set down her stuff by the old boxing ring and took off her formal clothes and glasses, thanking whatever god there was that she wore leggings and a sports bra underneath. She wrapped her hands quickly, trying to be as neat and as fast as possible. She fell into a fighting stance as soon as she was in range of the bag, swinging her fists in quick, rapid succession. The punching bag was knocked back as she flipped to the other side and kicked it repeatedly. She worked herself in rotations, cutting off imaginary enemies’ blows as she struck over and over again. As she worked, she finally allowed some of her inner rage to seep out, the adrenaline in her veins intensifying. Stupid  _ Garrett _ , stupid press! All she wanted to do was live her day life in relative peace, but no. Some  _ douchebag _ had taken a picture of her and caused her nightlife to start bleeding into her day life. Amber wasn’t an idiot, she knew that it would’ve happened eventually, but she had hoped to win the public favor before they got pictures of her fighting. It was not a secret among her enemies that she was rather ruthless in a fight. If only her expression in the photo hadn’t been so violent… She threw another punch, another, and another. Amber had always kept short nails, long ones constantly got in the way, but now was the awkward period of time where her nails were just long and sharp enough to (apparently) rip the punching bag. She examined her hand, the finger that had found a home in the punching bag throbbing in agony. She watched in dismay as a trickle of sand started leaking. 

“Damnit,” Amber cursed, “fucking hell-”

“Anger issues?” A voice from behind her made her whirl around in a defensive position in search of where the sound came from.

She dropped her arms to her sides when she saw that Matthew Murdock, of all people, was leaning in the doorway, “Something like that,” She began unwrapping her hands as he pushed off from his place on the wall and walked over to where she stood. 

“You come here often?” He set down his gym bag and began wrapping his hands like hers. 

“When the mood hits me. Or my Ex is being an ass,” She put the cloth into her purse, her shirt and jacket back on, along with the formal pants and her (Ugh) heels.

“So from what I’ve heard, always?” He smiled.

“Yeah pretty much,” She chuckled, picking up a patch from the crate they were in, peeling off the back and sticking it over the hole in the bag.

“Thanks. You don’t actually have to go, it’s not my gym,” He looked slightly to the left of her, his glasses were nowhere to be seen, face covered in bruising, before turning and starting to beat on the bag.

“It’s fine, I should be leaving anyway,” She was worried what would happen if he told someone she could fight. 

There was no way to tell how long he had been standing there, and she didn’t want to take any more chances. She was just about to leave, putting on her glasses, when Foggy walked in, in full business attire.

“Hey, we’ve got a problem! Oh! Amber! Thank God you’re here. Your ex filed a counterclaim against you. We need to go.  _ Now _ .” Foggy turned around and walked out of the gym, Matt and Amber rushing after him, alarmed.

* * *

Garrett sat across from her, looking nervous as she gave him a death glare every time he tried to make eye contact. He had a piece of tape over his bruised nose, and the satisfaction she got from that wasn’t enough to let her be calm. Plus there was the fact that all his attention was on her, not even paying attention to what their lawyers were saying. Their lawyers had been arguing for almost an hour, and Amber was done with his ridiculous claims. She gripped the armrests, itching to fight someone and worried she would punch the wrong person.

“-What we’re  _ saying _ is that your client has a history of mental illness! Not to mention that she’s practically blind! How do you suppose she ‘escaped’ the way she did when she can’t see?” Garrett's lawyer said to Foggy, Amber was really glad Matt wasn’t here to hear that, having left half an hour ago. 

Something told her that that wouldn't have ended well.

“And what  _ we’re _ saying is that we have photographic evidence that her claims are true, she has proof for every statement she’s given us, even told us about a few more things, after promising we wouldn’t use them because she wanted more than enough evidence to back her up. My client does not just  _ say _ things and expect us to believe them, she  _ shows _ us the evidence of the actions, backed up by medical reports, photographs, even a  _ tape _ for God’s sake!” Foggy sat down, running his hand over his face as Garrett’s lawyer took a breath to start speaking again.

“Alright, this is insane,” Amber stood from her seat and took off her glasses, “I’ve been here for nearly an hour, have been insulted repeatedly, and am going to be late for work if I have to sit here for 2 more hours. Which is likely where this is going to end up. I trust my lawyers to talk on my behalf, even when I’m not present, but I think we all need a break. Can we convene at a later date?” 

Garrett’s lawyer shifted uncomfortably at her stare, as she tried as hard as she could not to squint in the light, “Y-yes, I believe that would be beneficial,”

Foggy stood up and shook the man’s hand professionally, “Yes it would,”

Garrett sniffed, tears gathering in his eyes, “Amber, I- I don’t know what I did to you. Do you really hate me for leaving after what you did to me?”

“No games Garrett, you know what you did, and so do I,” Amber put her glasses on, shifting them so they were straight, “I have  _ photographs _ , medical reports-”

“Medical reports?” He questioned

“Yes, were you not listen-” 

Garrett gasped, looking at her in horror, “You- you hurt yourself?  _ Just _ to frame me for it?” he put his hand over his mouth, “Amber, please, this has gone on long enough. Despite what you think, I still care about you. Just-  _ please _ , don’t hurt yourself for this case.  _ Please _ .” 

Amber left the room, shaking her head, unable to deal with Garrett’s lies anymore. It was too convincing. Maybe she was blind in more ways than one, but she knew what Garrett was, and she was never going back. She turned a corner, walking into none other than Garrett himself.

“Garrett! What are you-” Amber backed up, looking at the door he walked out of, which must have been connected to the conference room.

“Amber, you  _ need _ to stop this! It’s gone on long enough, drop the charges and I’ll be out of your life!” Garrett pleaded with her.

“You  _ abused _ me!” She spat, “Constantly beating on me, forcing yourself on me, you broke most of my ribs multiple times!”

“Amber! None of that happened the way you remember. You were having one of your ‘fits’ and kept  _ hurting _ yourself, then I started stepping in and trying to stop you. PTSD works in weird ways Amber, it made you think  _ I _ was the one hurting you,” Garrett tried to touch her arm but she pulled away.

“Stop  _ lying _ to me, Garrett! I know what happened! I have a recording of it happening!” Amber backed away again as he took a step forward.

Garrett sighed, “Amber. You realize that I know  _ everything _ about your past right? I really didn’t want to have to use it against you in court, but you’re leaving me no choice, the court won’t be able to believe that you  _ don’t _ have PTSD after what I have to say,” 

Amber nodded, “Good to know,” She spun on her heels, flipping him off behind her back as she walked away.

The news of what he was going to use struck her as she was about to walk through the door, stopping at the last second and turning around to find Foggy. 

“Amber?” Foggy looked up from gathering his stuff as she walked back into the room, “I thought you’d left. What are you-”

“I’ve left some things out because they weren’t relevant to the case at the time. They are now. Find Mr. Murdock, I don’t want to explain this twice,” Amber stood up straighter as Foggy got his phone out.

“What exactly are you going to tell us about?” Foggy asked, dialing Matt’s number.

She took a breath, “The circumstances regarding my partial blindness,”

* * *

“Alright, so tell us what this relevant information is and why it’s only being told to us now,” Mr. Murdock sat across from her in his charcoal grey suit and maroon tie, looking impeccable as always, despite the bruising on his face. 

“Well, originally I thought that Garrett would be too drunk to come up with a counterclaim, but he got sober again a few weeks back and now he told me he’s going to use my past against me in court,” 

“Did you commit a felony? Any actions that would incriminate you?” Foggy got out a notepad and ripped off a page, pushing the rest of the pad to the side.

“Nothing that I haven’t already been charged for,” Amber moved the notepad from the side of the table back in front of Foggy, “I’m just going to start with the fact that Garrett plans to say I have PTSD,” 

“Alright, I’ll bite. Why?” Foggy scribbled down “PTSD” in big lettering on the pad she pushed in front of him.

“Because I  _ did _ have PTSD for a time, but all effects faded away sometime during 6th grade,” Amber sighed, “To understand, you have to know the whole story, he does, and he’ll use every bit of it to his advantage that he can,” 

Foggy nodded for her to continue, pen at the ready.

“Almost 25 and a half years ago, my father fell in love with a woman. They wanted children more than anything, but she couldn’t have kids because there was a risk of her bleeding out; She had hemophilia.”

“Disease that stops blood from clotting?” 

“Yeah. Anyway, they contacted my birth mother through an old family friend and she became the surrogate for them. 9 long months and then I was born,” She purposely left out the part with her brother, Garrett didn’t know, they didn’t need to know, “My birth mother was a renowned ophthalmologist, she was known in the scientific community as the woman who cured some eye disease I never bothered to learn about. When she first saw my eyes, she fell in love with them. They were silver, even though I had technically been born with blue. She was so frustrated when I was taken home by my family, that she devised a plan to kidnap me,” 

Foggy sat back, “Oh my God,”

“She was a sociopath, she didn’t see anything wrong with it,” Amber cracked her neck, feeling some need to defend her mother’s actions, “Her plan succeeded, and for almost four years of my life, I was experimented on. It was one of the last days I was there, when she took out some of the muscles in my eyes,” Amber paused as they both drew in a breath, “She was ‘going to put them back’ when she was done but we were found and she was… arrested, before that could happen,”

Foggy wrote down the last part, “So your eyes are…”

“Stuck like this,” She took off her glasses and looked at Foggy, seeing him swallow at the sight of her over-dilated pupils.

“How could someone  _ do _ that to a  _ child _ ?” He asked to no one in particular.

“How could someone abuse their partner? How could someone cheat on their spouse? How could someone drive while drunk and kill someone?” Amber paused, “I don’t know Foggy, but I do know that there are a lot of things we don’t understand,”

“That doesn’t make it right,” Foggy protested.

“No, but it makes some people insane,” She spoke with a small smile, “I have to go soon, work starts in… 10 minutes. Crap. Got to go,”

Amber stood at the same time as Matt did, she was gathering her stuff when he asked if he could walk her to her car, “Um. Sure? You really don’t have to,”

He smiled slightly, “I know,”

They walked together in silence out of the building, Matt holding her arm as they crossed the street.

“Thank you, Mr. Murdock,” Amber took his hand and shook it, a smile stretching across his face.

“Call me Matt,” He spoke softly as Amber unlocked her car.

“See you soon, Matt,” Amber smiled the whole way as she drove to work.

* * *

“Shit,” The Ghost whirled around and used a knife to block as she used another to eviscerate the ninja. 

He jumped back a bit too late, his innards staying where they were, but a deep cut across his abdomen caused him to stumble and allow her to kick him off the unfinished building they were fighting on. She didn’t have time to listen to him hit the ground, because 4 more ninjas appeared, seeming to melt from the shadows and into existence.

“Fucking ninjas,” Amber mumbled about nonsense under her breath as she pulled one of her knives from a corpse at her feet. 

She eyed the group, each in a fighting stance as she stalked closer. She lifted the knife above her head, the first ninja seeing an opening and trying to get a hit in, only to get a cut up across his forearm from a hidden knife in her other hand. Her first knife was plunged down while he was distracted, lodging in the space between his neck and his collarbone. She kicked out at a ninja that was behind her, her punches being blocked by the one at her front. The ninja behind her gasped and she spun, quickly slitting his throat in the same movement that impaled the third’s bicep. He grunted as he too was pushed from the structure, the splat he made when hitting the pavement made the Ghost feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Sadly, the feeling did not last as she was kicked in the ribs while she was distracted. She fell face first, rolling to distribute her impact, while at the same time grabbing a ninja’s leg and pulling him down with her. She threw her heavy knife into the chest of the standing ninja, killing him as he fell to a heap on the ground. A smaller knife slit the last ninja’s throat, he choked on his own blood as he died. 

She ran to retrieve her knives from the corpses and the occasional unconscious ninja, always prepared for an attack. Her death count had gone up drastically since the ninja’s started appearing. She looked around the structure one last time to assure herself that there were no more when she spotted a familiar man in red. She sheathed her knives, relaxing from where she had automatically gotten into a defensive position.

“Hello, Devil. How goes it?” She untied her cloak, the fabric flapping slightly in the wind. 

“I’ve been better,” He limped out into the moonlight, “Did I miss all the fun?”

“Yes, but from the looks of it, you seem to have had some of your own,” She looked at his bloodied face and hand holding his side as she sat down on the edge of the structure, swinging her legs over the side, “Ninjas?” 

“No. I don’t know. New guys, I think. They sounded Russian, but their accents were a bit different,” 

She hummed, slipping into a Polish accent before asking, “It didn’t happen to sound anything like this did it?” 

He groaned in pain as he sat down next to her, “Yeah, how did you know?” 

“They were Polish. I’m from Poland originally, but I moved here when I was 5,” She used her hand to feel her ribs, grimacing when she realized one or two were cracked. 

“Yeah? Remember much?” Daredevil rubbed his skull as he turned to face her.

“A little too much if you ask me,” The memories of her torture at the hands of her mother were pushed as far back as she could get them, but she knew her mind would bring them back tonight. 

“Any good memories?” His hands were shaking slightly.

“Yeah, one. My um, my mom used to hum me this old polish lullaby after she- uh, after I got… hurt, and for some reason, it always calmed me down. Still does, actually, I need something to calm me down sometimes, like after too much adrenaline, you know how it is right? Like there’s something itchy under your skin and you can’t sit still?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I…” The Devil trailed off, the shaking she noticed earlier intensifying. 

“Daredevil?” The Ghost moved closer to him, seeing blood running down his face from underneath his helmet, “Shit, stupid Devil!” 

She moved him, sitting him up against an unfinished wall, trying to talk to him, “Hey, hey, Daredevil, talk to me. What’s the date today?”

“The- The… 21st of…” His head dropped to the side, falling in and out of consciousness. 

“Shit. I am  _ not _ equipped to deal with this Devil! I am not a Doctor. Or a Nur- Nurse! Your Nurse friend! Cleo? Clara? Fuck, what was her name… Claire! Where does Claire live, Devil?” Ghost shook him until he woke, mumbling her address.

“Oh thank God. That’s only a block away. Come on Devil, let’s get you to Claire,” She lifted him, putting an arm around his waist and pulling his arm around her shoulder as they walked (stumbled) down a few flights of stairs, and down a rope once (fucking  _ terrifying _ ). She pulled him along through alleyways until they reached the address. The Ghost thanked her father for being a math genius as she quickly calculated which window would lead to the right apartment. She pulled down the fire escape and practically pulled him up to it, repeating the action for three more floors until they reached the (hopefully) right window. She used a knife to unlock the window, pushing it open as quietly as she could and slipping him inside, jumping in after and closing the window. The Ghost pulled Daredevil into the apartment and lifted him onto the couch, staring at him in worry until she heard the familiar sound of a gun cocking. 

“Who are you?” A woman’s voice, full of fear greeted her after the sound of the gun.

The Ghost raised her hands as she stood up and turned around slowly, her head lowered but hood down behind her head, “Something tells me you already know,” She pulled out her Polish accent. Her identity was her most prized possession, and she wasn’t going to lose it because someone heard her voice.

“What do you want?” She was a beautiful dark-skinned woman, her hands holding the gun were shaking, and the Ghost could practically smell her fear.

“You’re Claire right? The Nurse?” she lowered her hands slightly, stepping to the side, “I want you to help him,” 

She gasped, her right hand holding the gun as her left hand covered her mouth, “Shit!” She walked towards Daredevil, only to be stopped by the Ghost.

Claire sucked in a breath as the Ghost grabbed her by the arm holding the gun, clicking the safety back on before letting go, “Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself now would we?”

She shook her head no before kneeling next to the couch, starting to peel off layers of the Devil’s armor. The Ghost could hardly even appreciate the view when his shirt was off, his torso was littered in so many bruises. There were obviously a few broken ribs and several cuts near his stomach. 

“Can I wait in your kitchen?” She asked the woman, who was about to unmask the Devil.

“Yeah, sure. Don’t get blood on my tiles,” She turned back to Daredevil as the Ghost left the room.

She jumped up on the countertop by the sink as she unwound the material on her right side, looking at a relatively deep cut on her upper arm. There was a few weak spots in her armor, a small one under her cloak that was nearly impossible to get to, and two more, one on each arm just below the shoulder. There was exposed skin there when the cloak was tied off, which made targets there, along with her neck, face, and hands. She ran numbers through her head as she tried to estimate the cost of having movable neck armor made.  _ Too fucking much _ was her conclusion. She finished taking it off, getting out her wipes to clean a cut there and the sewing kit next. The Ghost pulled the needle through her skin in the last stitch on her arm as Claire walked in.

“Need any help?” Claire walked over to the sink, watching as she stitched up her arm, “The cut above your eye needs stitches too.” 

“I know,” The Ghost replied, “I also have one or two cracked ribs and my hip bone is bruised. My shoulder didn’t heal right from the last time I tore a ligament, so now it’s always sore, and I have three broken toes. I am very good at assessing my own injuries, Claire. I just don’t know how to do much more than stitches.” She sighed, “Though I could use help with my ribs if you don’t mind,” 

“Of course,” The Ghost took off her cloak, the kevlar shirt coming off and revealing her bruised torso (Slightly less bruised than the devils’) and her black sports bra. 

Claire grabbed supplies from the table as the Ghost started stitching the cut above her eye. 

“So. How did you meet… him?” Claire asked, making small talk.

“Saved his ass,” Ghost smiled at the memory, “There were ninjas. When they were all taken care of, he thanked me, then said something about ‘ending up in a dumpster again,’ and ‘Claire would be angry,’”

She sighed, “Are all you vigilante’s like that? No sense of self-preservation?” 

“Well, I’m probably not a good vigilante to ask, I didn’t have any sense of self-preservation  _ before _ I was a vigilante. But then again, I wasn’t  _ trying _ to get hurt, there were just a lot of ninjas.” 

Claire finished wrapping her ribs and moved down to the leggings, silently asking permission to look at her hip. The Ghost nodded and tied off the last stitch as Claire examined the bruising, wrapping that as well. 

“How’s the Devil?” She asked as they both sat down at the table, putting her armor back on.

Claire sighed, putting her head in her hands, “He’ll live, but he has a concussion, three broken ribs I had to set, a sprained ankle, and insane amounts of bruising and scrapes. Who did that to him, do you know?” 

“Um. New guys in town he said? Polish, we think. Is he awake?” Claire shook her head no as the Ghost stood up, making sure she had everything before walking into the living room. 

When she walked in, she saw he was sleeping peacefully, mask back on and bandaged up. 

“What do I call you?” Claire turned to the Ghost as she was about to leave through the window.

The Ghost thought for a moment, thinking through her options, “...Call me Anna,” 

“Stop by if either of you ever needs any help, okay Anna?” Claire crossed her arms, looking like she was scolding her.

“Will do, Claire,” With that, she jumped out the window, making her way back to her apartment.

* * *

Amber lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling while thinking of the Devil. He had a concussion right? What if he ended up with brain damage, or they for some reason couldn’t fight together anymore? She sighed, when had she began to enjoy fighting with him so much? Turning over, she buried her face in her pillow, drifting off as quickly as she could.

_ “Dear! Mommy’s home!”  _

_ Amber hid under her bed in the white room, not breathing as her mother walked in to search for her. _

_ “Oh, don’t be like that. Come out! Mommy’s got a surprise for you!”  _

_ She hesitantly crawled out from under the bed, the white walls and furniture making her uncomfortable. She looked up at her mother, a woman with hair the color of red wine and bright blue eyes, her pale complexion making the light dusting of freckles stand out. She kneeled down next to her daughter, giving her a red lollipop. _

_ “This one will hurt a bit, so here’s a treat,” Her mother smiled as she revealed the eyedropper. _

_ Amber’s lip quivered, holding still to avoid punishment as her mother put in the drops. She felt her vision go black as the drops did their work. The lollipop was forgotten on the floor as a scream was wrenched from her, her eyes feeling like they had gotten freezer burn. Her crying quieted bit by bit, the pain fading further as a familiar tune was hummed by her mother. Once she was calm, and her vision had returned, her mother stood up and moved over to the white couch, watching as Amber picked up the lollipop. _

_ “Play me a song dear, Mommy’s feeling stressed,”  _

_ She ran to the piano, just staring for a moment at the wonderful contrast of the keys, the white against the black, before starting one of her mother’s favorite classical pieces.  _

_ “Thank you, dear. I know that  _ you’ll _ always be my little girl,” _

Amber sat up with a gasp, breathing heavily as she turned on the lights. She sighed in relief as she couldn’t find a single white object in her room. Outside her room? Yeah, that’s fine. But she couldn’t wake up to see white, she’d have a panic attack every morning. She stood up from her bed, knowing she wouldn’t be sleeping anymore, and walked out into her living room. She sat down on the white bench, running her fingers over the old keys of the piano, the contrast of white against black still mesmerizing her, before she picked up a random piece of sheet music and began playing it. The piece started with a soft, soothing, melody that reminded her of the ocean before gradually getting louder until she felt as if staring into the sun, the last fermata resonating within her as the piece finished, fading to black. It really was such a nice contrast.

* * *

Matt woke with a start, hearing the heartbeat in the room over quicken as his friend Claire walked in.

“Oh my God, Matt you’re awake!” Claire kneeled down next to him.

He groaned, a headache making its first appearances, “What time is it?” 

“It’s 5,” she said softly.

“Okay, so I still have about 2 hours before I have to be at work. This is fine,” Matt lay his head back on the couch when he heard Claire cough.

“Matt… It’s 5 in the afternoon. You’ve been out for 15 hours,”

He bolted upright, his head throbbing in protest, “Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you enjoyed this! I was laughing most of the time writing this, because in my outline it states, “Awkward conversation happens” and I for some reason find that hilarious. If yall want, I might do Gwyn’s POV next chapter, but I’m not sure. Tell me what you thought! Or leave kudos! Or Bookmark! Do what you want, really, but please give me opinions/suggestions! Bye! -Σ


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early chapter because It’s Christmas and I couldn’t wait till Friday to post! This was supposed to just be fluffy Christmas fluff but I couldn’t help throwing some plot in there. Sorry! (Not really). One thing before you read, I’m debating posting a second work that has information about the universe, artwork I/my friends do, little scenes from other times that I threw out from the story that were irrelevant, words of wisdom from Amber (Any new stuff would be updated with the chapters of this story), and various other things. Any thoughts on that? Anyway. Enjoy!

Gwyn woke Amber up from where she was passed out on her bed, sprawled awkwardly across her mattress. 

“Get up! Come on, Amber! It’s Christmas Eve!” Gwyn pulled her lazy friends’ arm until it popped, Amber groaning.

“G… I told you I wasn’t getting up till Christmas Eve,” Amber pulled the comforter over her face, her messy wine-colored hair peeking out from under it. 

“I just said it was!” Gwyn threw up her arms in exasperation, pulling the comforter off of her friend.

“No. What time is it?” Amber curled in on herself, taking refuge within a pillow she hugged to her chest.

Gwyn repressed the urge to roll her eyes, “8:30. Why?”

“Ha! See? Not Christmas Eve, it’s Christmas Eve  _ day _ ,” Amber rolled onto her back, staring lazily up at Gwyn as she pulled her pajama shirt down from where it had ridden up. 

“Aw, come on. I was enjoying the view!” Gwyn kneeled on the bed, crawling across it until she was looking down at Amber, placing a hand on her stomach.

“Gwyn, Gwyn, Gwyn,” Amber tutted, grinning at her friend, “Are you trying to get me  _ out _ of bed or make sure I want to stay longer?” 

“I’m bribing you with guaranteed  _ fantastic _ sex tonight if you get out of bed now,” Gwyn spoke in a deadpan voice, getting up and walking towards the kitchen, “I’ll even throw in breakfast,” 

“Well… Since you asked so  _ nicely _ I’ll get up at the asscrack of dawn just for you,” Amber rolled off the bed and onto the floor, getting up and walking over to Gwyn.

“Aw, you know you love me,” Gwyn beamed at her, “Besides, we can talk about your lawyer crush!” 

Amber’s face screwed up, “I do  _ not _ have a lawyer crush!,” Amber paused, “Can we not talk about men for a while? I’d rather just stay here forever and leech off of your breakfast-making skills and ‘guaranteed fantastic sex,’”

“Hon, we already agreed monogamy was not for us,” Gwyn tutted and Amber shrugged.

“Didn’t say I actually  _ would _ , just that I’d rather do that,” Amber walked over to the fridge and rummaged through it. 

“Yeah? Too busy in reality with your lawyer crush?” Gwyn grinned as Amber groaned, shutting the fridge once she got out the orange juice.

“I don’t have a crush on my lawyer!” Amber ran a hand through her messy hair.

“Yes, you do. I asked what your lawyers’ names were at work the other day and you turned as red as your hair,” Gwyn smirked at her when she saw something else different about her face.

She scoffed, “That’s not even possible,”

“Oh, my gods!” Gwyn figured out what was different about her face, “You have a crush on someone  _ else _ too! Oh yeah, Amber! Get back in the game!”

Amber’s head dropped in defeat, “I will never understand how you do that,”

“What?”

“Read my mind! I hate it!” Amber squinted at Gwyn, “The one person! I swear you’re a mind-reader,” 

“Like the fact that I know how much you wish that orange juice was that red wine you love?” Gwyn asked sweetly.

“Yes. Exactly like that,” Amber appeared to be in thought for a moment, “Although, I always want my wine, so that could have just been a lucky guess,”

“Fair,” Gwyn moved to start the eggs, “Wanna do something stupid and spontaneous today?”

Amber reached for her glasses, the light from outside finally starting to sting, “Depends. How many Federal laws are we going to break?” 

Gwyn gaped, “None! Amber! How could you accuse me of not following the laws?!”

Amber choked on her orange juice, laughing hysterically at Gwyns’ fake-offended face.

“No, I was just thinking we go out and get makeovers or something. Dye our hair black. Paint tiny dicks on our toenails,” She got another snort of laughter from that one, “You need to loosen up. It’s the holidays! Enjoy Christmas while it lasts!”

Amber looked skeptical, “Christmas is just the time of year I wear fuzzier socks than usual and have an excuse to drink before noon,” 

“What about candy canes?”

“What about them? I don’t like sweet things,” Gwyn gaped as Amber raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, my gods. Have you never had a candy cane?” 

“...No?” Gwyn ran out of the kitchen and into her closet to retrieve her stash of mini candy canes, grabbing a few and running back to the kitchen.

“Gwyn,” Amber looked concerned as Gwyn unwrapped a candy cane.

“Take this!” Gwyn shoved the candy cane in her mouth, her glasses falling down her face and a surprised expression gracing her features. 

She took it out of her mouth, “It is… not terrible,”

“I told you! Candy canes are amazing. I gave you the peppermint one, ‘cause the other ones are sweeter,” she informed Amber.

“Hm. Thanks,” Amber hesitantly put the entire candy cane in her mouth, pushing her glasses back up.

“So. Lawyer crush. Spill,”

Amber groaned, chewing on the peppermint candy, “I don’t want to!” 

“Other crush that you feel really guilty about for some reason? I’m honestly more interested in that one, lawyers aren’t exactly all that attractive,” 

“Incorrect. That is not true. I mean, I know you haven’t met M- Oh my God you manipulative little bitch!” Amber glared at her, the glasses ruining the effect.

Gwyn grinned as she cracked the eggs into a bowl, “Takes one to know one sweetheart! Tell me about the other one if you won’t talk about your lawyer man,” 

Amber set down the carton of orange juice, “That reminds me, will you testify in the court case against Garrett?”

“Oh hell yes. You should have known that. Now. Don’t change the subject! The lawyer or the other person?”

Amber cringed, “I’d really rather not talk about either,”

“Why?”

“‘Cause having a crush on my lawyer is unprofessional and the other is… It just can’t actually ever happen. I’d end up freezing in hell before I made it work,”

Gwyn rolled her eyes, “Geez, anyone would think you were crushing on the devil himself,”

Amber’s body language spoke to Gwyn as always, and this time it was just reciting expletives over and over.

“Holy shit. Devil? Like, the fallen ang- Oh my gods you’re crushing on a vigilante,” Gwyn pulled Amber to face her, “Explain. Now,”

Amber hesitated, “Can I not?”

“Not getting out of this,” She turned her stove on, not pouring the eggs just yet.

“Get me my wine and we have a deal,” Amber crossed her arms, the orange juice hanging from her left hand after taking a sip from it.

Gwyn groaned. She loved her best friend, but she really was becoming an alcoholic. She walked to her room, reaching behind her dresser to her “keep hidden from Amber” alcohol stash, she grabbed a bottle of red wine that she had been saving for a rainy day. Amber walked into her room just as she was about to walk out and grabbed the red wine from her hands. She flopped down on the bed and popped off the top with her bare fingers, taking a gracious sip from the bottle before screwing on the top again and gazing up at Gwyn.

“So… What did you want to know?”

“Daredevil. How the fuck do you end up with a crush on a guy that beats people up in dark places?” Gwyn asked.

“One of those guys was Garrett,”

“Awesome! Oh, my gods, that’s so cool. Did he get hurt?”

“Yeah. Really broken nose. Think he might’ve had to get surgery,” 

“Next part?”

“So we kept running into each other,”

Gwyn wasn’t surprised, her friend had a habit of attracting danger, “And he kissed you?”

“...Yeah…”

Gwyn suppressed a smile, “I’m totally jealous. I’ve only seen the newspaper illustrations and photos, but, from what I can tell, that man is sex on legs. I’m a lesbian, so you know this is serious,”

“Gwyyyyyyyn,” Amber groaned, taking another swig of the alcohol, “Not helping!”

“What was he like?”

“Violent,”

“No shit Sherlock,” Gwyn rolled her eyes, “Anything noteworthy?”

“He smelled kind of like cheap whiskey?”

“So… He gets drunk, and  _ then _ beats people up?”

“How the shit would I know? Now. More drinking and less talking,” She paused, “Also. What spontaneous shit shall we do on this fine fucking morning since it's only,” Amber glanced at the wall clock, “...9 am. And you made me get up?!”

“I’m gonna make eggs, and bacon, and various other breakfast foods. And I’ll be taking this,” Amber protested as Gwyn snatched her wine bottle from her, pouting until Gwyn poured her a glass.

Gwyn walked out of the room, leaving Amber to nurse her drink, and went to the still-on stove.  _ Not smart, Gwyn, _ she thought,  _ gonna end up burning down the apartment.  _ She worked on getting the eggs started, taking the bacon from the fridge, and pancake ingredients from various places that they shouldn’t be. She assembled the pancakes and started cooking several things at once, not the smartest idea, but she had a cranky friend in her room who wanted food so she’d do it anyway. The whole domesticity of the situation almost made her smile, reminding her of better times. She used her spatula to scoop the eggs from the pan into two bowls, turning off the stove and turning the flame beneath the bacon low, aiming to keep it warm. The pancakes were ready a few minutes later, hers covered in syrup, and Amber’s with a bit of that nasty “sugar-free” stuff that she could tolerate a little at a time. The plates were in one hand, and the two glasses of orange juice in the other were balanced expertly as she walked into her bedroom. Amber, the bastard, was sound asleep under her covers, wine gone, and breathing quietly. Gwyn set the plates and cups on her side table, pulling the covers off Amber, who just curled up with a pillow she grabbed from beneath her head.

“Nuh-uh, nope. Get up. I have food!”

Amber sat up immediately, looking over at Gwyn, “Food?”

Gwyn huffed, “You were never asleep,”

“Nope. I was pretending,”

“Why?”

Amber gave her puppy-dog eyes, “If I pretend hard enough, I might convince myself I actually am asleep,”

“Oh. That’s… understandable,” Gwyn handed her a plate, “Here’s your food,”

They ate on her bed, making casual conversation while watching some random Netflix show.

“Maybe we should just go out and get really drunk,”

“No, Amber it's not even 12! We can go out  _ later _ ,” She shook her head, “I think we should go out and find you a Christmas present.”

Amber looked at her, “I told you not to get me anything,”

“You still need to treat yourself. It’s a holiday!”

“So… Either you just wanted to make a reference to Parks and Rec, or you want to go out so I can buy my own present?” 

“Yeah,”

“So which is it?” 

“A bit of both. Get up! Get dressed! I have massage coupons! I want new shoes! It’s Christmas!” Gwyn tugged on her friends’ arm.

“That was a lot of shouting,” Amber stood up and walked over to Gwyn’s closet, throwing on a pair of Gwyn’s jeans and an Emerald green sweater, her glasses slightly crooked. 

“That is so adorable, I feel like I should make you a mug of hot chocolate to go with the look,” Gwyn hugged her friend, ignoring the way she stiffened at the unexpected touch, “Time to go!”

* * *

“That was not horrible,” Amber carried most of the bags as they walked to Gwyn’s car, “I do like my presents,”

“You got white combat boots,” Gwyn rolled her eyes, “That’s one thing,” 

“We can’t all be rich like you, Gwyn,” 

Gwyn gasped in mock offense, “I am  _ not _ ! I just inherited a lot of stuff!”

“Half of which you sold, and you now have more money than everyone in my apartment building combined,”

Gwyn paused, “Fair enough. It is now currently,” She checked her watch, “6 pm. We have been out for an entire 8 hours,”

“So… We can go get drunk now?” Amber asked hopefully.

“One of these days you will tell me why you hate Christmas so much,” Gwyn shook her head, “We can either make eggnog or go out. Your choice,” 

“Eggnog tomorrow?”

“Fine,”

“Then let us go get drunk!” Amber threw the bags and her glasses in Gwyn’s car, changing into her new boots before they started walking to the nearest bar.

The two friends visited several bars, stopping at a karaoke bar because they had Amber’s preferred wine. 

“Amber, you should totally go up and sing!” Gwyn, very drunk, informed her friend, poking her in the arm.

“Why?” Amber wasn’t drunk, she never got drunk, no matter how much she drank. 

It was totally unfair.

“Because. It’ll be fun!” Gwyn poked her again.

“What would I even sing?” Amber asked, sipping at her wine, “And if I  _ did _ go, I’d make you go with me,” 

Maybe she  _ was _ a bit drunk. Or at least buzzed. Sober Amber would never even  _ think _ about singing in front of people.

“We could sing Dear Theodosia!”

“No! Not again!” Amber groaned, “We could do Snow? The Red Hot Chili Peppers?” 

“Anything to get you up on the stage girl!” Gwyn drowned her tequila and watched as Amber’s wine disappeared. 

The two ran up to the band and asked for the song, moving up to the stage as the last person finished singing. They saw heads turn towards the stage as the intro to “Snow” by The Red Hot Chili Peppers started playing. Gwyn felt her alcohol-riddled brain tune into the music, singing the melody as Amber added on with the harmonies. Their voices blended seamlessly, their days singing together daily might have been over, but they hadn’t lost their touch. The girls jumped into the second verse of the song, the bridge was next, and then the final verse and the last harmony. The room filled with applause as the girls gathered their stuff and got ready to go, it was much later than they had intended on staying out. Amber led Gwyn out of the backroom door, saying something about her lawyer’s assistant standing by the main entrance. Gwyn followed Amber into the back alley, letting go of her hand as Amber started walking to where the car was parked a block away. 

“What are you two lovely ladies doing out here so late?” A voice said from behind them and Gwyn froze, grabbing Amber’s hand as they turned around.

“Just passing through, we’ll be leaving now,” Amber spoke loudly, squeezing Gwyns’ hand in return, turning back around to get out of the alley and into the open. 

“I don’t think so,” A man with a Polish accent stepped out of the shadows, others behind him, “We’ve all had a long night, and  _ everyone _ deserves a Christmas present. Right boys?”

The men chuckled darkly at that, starting towards the girls.

Amber moved at the same time the men did, pulling a switchblade out of her left boot and attacking. Gwyn watched as her friend took out two of the men, and started tussling with the man who had spoken. She watched in grim fascination as Amber punched the man in the gut, spinning out of range of his knife. She stalked towards him again, using the same technique but not managing to get back in time, the man’s knife easily splitting her skin. Fear pooled in her stomach as she felt hands wrap around her in a headlock, similar to the one Amber had just placed the other man in. She shouted as a knife was pressed to her throat, the blade pressing into her flesh as Amber held her own against the first man’s throat.

“Let go, or your pretty little friend dies,” Gwyn whimpered while he spoke, pressed flush against his body.

“Not likely,” The next moments seemed to happen in slow motion, Amber throwing her knife into her captor’s skull and slitting the first man’s throat in the same motion.

Gwyn dropped to the ground with the man, a shallow cut on her throat where the knife had been. 

“Gwyn!” Amber wiped her knife on the man’s clothes, covering him with even more of his own blood, “Are you okay?”

Gwyn couldn’t speak, she managed to roll away from the man’s grasp, only to curl in on herself as the events caught up with her.

“Hey, hey Gwyn. We need to get out of here before someone comes to check the noise out,” Amber helped Gwyn to her feet, pulling her deeper into the alley and around some corners until they turned out onto the street where Gwyn had parked her car.

Gwyn was helped into the passengers’ seat, Amber taking the keys from Gwyn’s purse and hopping in the drivers’ seat.

“You killed them,” She whispered, staring ahead at the street, noticing her blood-stained clothes and hands.

“I couldn’t just let you die,” Amber’s voice sounded weak.

“How are you not freaking out? You just  _ killed _ people Amber!” Gwyn felt tears on her face as her shock slowly wore off.

“Calm down Gwyn, you’re in shock,” Gwyn supposed that was true, but it didn’t change anything.

“Where are we going?” She asked in a small voice.

“My place, gotta clean you up,”

Gwyn stared in silence the rest of the drive, not saying a word as Amber helped her into her apartment and got her medical supplies.

“It’s dark,” She whispered, sitting on Amber’s kitchen counter.

“What?” Amber shouted from the bathroom, where she was getting a disinfectant wipe.

“It’s dark in your apartment,” She said, a bit louder.

“Oh, sorry,” Amber switched on a light, walking back into the kitchen carrying supplies, “I forget most people don’t have as good of night vision as me,”

“You killed them,” Gwyn stated, “How are you not freaking out? How do you even know how to fight?”

Amber hesitated, “The self-defense classes you signed me up for,”

“Back when you were still with Garrett?” 

“Yeah I… I never stopped taking them. I liked it, it was fun, then it turned into more than just self-defense,” She paused, blowing out a breath, “It was good for me to have a hobby that wasn’t drinking. That’s where I go most nights we don’t hang out,”

Gwyn stifled a sob, her voice shaking, “Don’t lie to me Amber,  _ please _ , not now. I don’t think I can take it,”

“Gwyn, I’m not lying to yo-”

“You’re not telling a whole truth. It’s just part of it. Amber I need to  _ know _ !” Gwyn felt a tear run down her face.

“It’s not important right now G,” Amber cleaned the cut, Gwyn wincing, “What’s important is getting you patched up and safe at home with a cup of hot chocolate. We could even eat candy canes?”

Gwyn waited until she was done before standing up, “No. If you don’t trust me enough to tell me the truth, especially after tonight, then you’re not the friend I thought you were,”

“Gwyn-”

“No! Unless the next words out of your mouth are the truth and not some lame excuses then we’re done here!” Gwyn watched as Amber closed her mouth, a tear falling from her cheek.

Gwyn resisted the urge to wipe it away, “I should be getting home,”

Amber protested, “At  _ least _ let me drive you! Please?” 

“I don’t need anymore of your help Amber, just leave me be,” Gwyn slammed her apartment door as she walked off. 

She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked to her car, heels clicking on the pavement. Her car was almost out of gas as she drove home, forcing her to stop and get some on her way. Gwyn stood at the pump, waiting patiently for the machine to finish when she heard someone behind her clear their throat.

She whirled around, seeing the gas station attendant, “Oh! Hi! Can I help you?”

“Yeah. Um, is your name Gwyn Harren?” He asked.

“...Why?” She had been almost raped an hour and a half ago, she was allowed to be skeptical.

“Some guy came in here asking for you. Gave your description, and said you left something at a bar that he wanted to give back?”

“Oh. Yeah, that’s me,” She followed him into the gas station after locking her car and looked around.

“I don’t see any-” She saw stars as she was hit, her world fading to black.

* * *

The Ghost knew she would hate Christmas even more for this memory, Gwyn had left almost four hours ago and the Ghost was out the window a minute after. She was fuming, if she had just risked an encounter with Karen, which she had only wanted to avoid for the purpose of keeping Gwyn away from her, then none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t be punching ninjas, or missing the not-so-“guaranteed fantastic sex.” She sighed as she spotted another person, this one dressed more similarly to the man who had tried to rape her and Gwyn earlier that night (i.e. black coat and black cargo pants). She could nearly  _ smell _ his malicious intent from here. She jumped down from the rooftop, swinging on fire escapes until she landed silently behind him. 

He whirled around, “I have a message!” 

“Don’t care,” She matched his Polish accent, not that it would matter. He’d be dead soon anyway.

“Please-” Amber used her knife to eviscerate him, “Mr. Mallum… he said… to give you…” The man fell unconscious as he reached out, holding a now slightly blood spattered sheet of paper. 

Amber took it hesitantly, scanning it quickly. She froze, dropping the letter as she ran off into the night.

* * *

_ Abandoned warehouse on 47th and 53rd. _

_ Come alone. _

_ We have Gwyn. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe. Um. You’re welcome! Have a good Christmas/Holiday! If you don’t celebrate, have a good day anyway. See you in Chapter 5! Bye! -Σ


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um. So. Long wait... Sorry about that. Um… In my defense, I got sucked into another fandom… and then I got sucked into another one… ah, either way, I’m back. Hopefully, there won’t be too much time between now and the next chapters so… Enjoy? I guess?  
> I own nothing but my OC’s and plot.

The Ghost leaped into her apartment, closing her window and her curtains. Power flowed through her veins, and she pitied anyone who attempted to cross her on this night. She pulled out her makeup and started her theatrics. Ghost knew she should just go -who knew what they were doing to Gwyn- but she needed to be feared tonight. Needed them to see her face and feel nothing but pure terror in their last moments. The Ghost didn’t know who they were or why they had taken Gwyn, but it will be the last mistake they ever make. She finished her makeup, taking a moment to admire it. She had surrounded the uncovered areas around her eyes with coal black, highlighting the ring of silver around her pupil, and she had taken extra care to make her hair and other areas of exposed skin as white as possible. 

A nod at herself in the mirror and she was back in her room, tucking knives into her new combat boots and a few extras were hidden in her cloak. She glanced over to where she kept her weapons, the decorative white and lilac box peeking out from under her bed. The Ghost sighed, walking over to it and pulling it out, examining the contents. Normally, she used three types of knives: balisongs, switchblades, and throwing knives. The first two types she used for close combat, liking the fluid motions in which she could eliminate opponents one after the other. The third type she used for (as the name would suggest) throwing. But tonight she needed something more. She picked up the black sheath, pulling the blade out to be examined. It was kept in pristine condition. She didn’t know how it had stayed so well kept, but it was beautiful. The blade was heavy and white, about the same length from her elbow to the palm of her hand. It had a slightly serrated edge and had a subtle curve, intricate golden designs etched into the smooth surface. It was a gift from an old friend, never been used. 

The Ghost stood, carrying the blade in her left hand. She walked about her apartment, testing her new weight and feeling the blade in her hand. It was perfect. The Ghost jumped out of her window, the momentum carrying her over the edge of her fire escape to the one on the opposite building, three floors down. She ran through the alleys, thankful for her stamina.  _ 47th and 53rd _ She thought,  _ A few more turns and then I’ll be there. _ Lost in her mind, she ran into a certain red-clad vigilante. She glared up at his grinning form, which was reaching out a hand to help her up. 

“Watch where you’re running,” He said as she took his hand, pulling herself up off the ground.

“Zip it. I have places to be,” The Ghost dusted herself off, the long knife gripped in her left hand. 

“Need any help? I’ve got time before I have to be at the pier,” The Devil asked her. 

“No,”

“You sure? Cause I-”

“Leave this one be, Devil. I have to do this alone,” The Ghost turned around, intent on sprinting away again.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” She stopped, almost able to feel his stare on her neck.

“The men who attacked you. The Polish ones. They took a friend of mine. It’ll be the last mistake they’ll ever make,” Ghost turned back to face him, “Stay out of this, Devil,”

The Ghost turned around, taking off in the direction of Gwyn. She passed the warehouse, scaling the building next to it quickly and jumping onto the roof. It was quick from then on; sneak into the building, nearly get blinded and be forced to close eyes, find the fuse box, take out the guard in silence, destroy fuse box, follow the shouts of surprise as the lights turn out. Simple. The Ghost kept up her M.O; slashing and stabbing with her usual knives. She was keeping the long knife for ‘special’ people. She circled the men, who were blindly shooting in the darkness, picking them off one by one. She saw Gwyn, she was strapped to a chair and blindfolded. The Ghost could make out her wavy blonde hair, she was trembling and if the Ghost was a few feet closer she’d be able to make out the tear stains on her face. There were about a dozen men left, and the room was silent. Ghost sheathed most of her smaller knives, keeping a switchblade in her right hand and the long black knife in her left. She ran into the moonlight, her cloak was untied and her hood was pooling around her head. One man shouted in Polish, something about, “The Ghost is here.”  _ No really, _ she thought, her sarcastic nature making an appearance. She cut them down, dodging bullets and knives, her adrenaline making her hypersensitive, feeling the air around her moving before the bullet made its path. The last man standing was a much tougher opponent than she anticipated. She would’ve been dead if she hadn’t thought to untie her cloak, using it as a shield against his knives, which were flying as fast as hers. She got several minor scrapes on her hands and a larger laceration on her forehead, he punched her in the gut and it was the last straw for any shred of decency or control, it all slipped away as she plunged her long knife through his chest, the fabric around it being stained by a trickle of red until she pulled it out and kicked him over. Her breathing was heavy, staring down at her blood-covered adversary. She spat on his carcass, pulled her hood over her face, and walked over to where Gwyn was, still tied up and blindfolded. 

“Hey, are you alright?” The Ghost switched to her Polish accent and pulled the blindfold off and started untying her wrists.

Gwyn sniffled, “Are y-you one o-of them?” The Ghost felt a stab of anger when she saw the rings of damaged skin where the ropes had bit into her wrists. 

“Never. I couldn’t in good conscious join whatever…  _ cult,  _ this is knowing what they’ve done,” Ghost pulled Gwyn into a standing position, wrapping her arms around her as Gwyn started sobbing.

“Let’s get you out of here. I’ll go with you to your apartment and we can pack you a few bags. I know somewhere you’ll be safe,” Ghost held the shivering girl in her arms, patting her back. 

“Wh-who are you?” Gwyn whispered. 

“That’s not important now. If they found you once, they’ll find you again. We need to get you somewhere safe before they find you again,” The Ghost pulled away, watching as the girl wiped her nose on her sleeve. 

“O-Okay,” The Ghost moved to lead Gwyn out of the building when the lights came on, blinding her temporarily. 

A man walked onto the balcony above them, clapping slowly as The Ghost regained her bearings, getting used to the pain a moment at a time. 

“Wh-who is th-that?” The Ghost moved Gwyn behind her as she began shaking again.

“Oh! Where are my manners?” The Ghost was able to make out wine-red hair and blue eyes, the man wearing a similar outfit to the others, but instead of the black coat he was wearing a tactical vest complete with kevlar sleeves, “My name is Anthony Mallum, I am the… “King,” for lack of a better word, of the Polish Mafia,” The man paused and the Ghost pondered why he sounded familiar for a moment, “Every truly great leader knows how to do what is best for his people as a whole, in any and all circumstances.” He began pacing along the balcony, “The only way for my people to flourish is if we know how our enemies fight and think. Hence why I’ve brought you here tonight, and I’ve got to say, you’ve been quite elusive,” He spoke with avid gestures, his speech patterns suggesting he was overconfident with himself and his work, “Finding your friend was really a stroke of luck, I have to admit. Our men had been butchered, and it was easy to figure out who had killed them,” He stopped again, examining the Ghost and her friend, “But really, who cares about how I found her?” She almost breathed out a sigh of relief, his speech had been getting tedious, “Of course, I can’t let either of you _ live,  _ I’m trying to make a name for myself! But it was fun chatting. Goodbye!” 

As he walked away 2 dozen men in full tactical gear poured in, carrying some nondescript guns the Ghost didn’t care to name, pointing their weapons at her and Gwyn.

“Have fun ladies!” as soon as Mallum left the room the lights went out and confused murmurs started. 

The Ghost decided not to question her luck and jumped into action, pushing Gwyn behind a metal something or other, “Stay there, and if you can see,  _ don’t watch, _ ” 

The Ghost flipped out her Switchblade in her right hand and scaled up to where the men were. She heard a noise and suddenly the men were firing blindly towards where she and Gwyn had been standing. The man closest to her met an unfortunate end, her blade going through his back and out his chest, missing the heart but likely going through the lungs. He choked on his own blood as she kicked him over the railing and moved onto the next man, lopping off his head to save time. Her blood boiled as she spotted a vigilante in red, moving expertly through the darkness and taking out the men on the opposite end of the balcony. The Ghost simmered in rage at him for putting her and Gwyn in jeopardy by following her, thankful she had some unsuspecting men to take out her rage on. A man turned and shot at her as she ran him through. She paid it no mind. All that she could focus on was the rhythmic pattering of bullets and the gasps as the men released their last breath. The last man she fought was different. He seemed to be a higher-up, wearing slightly different armor and carrying a slightly different gun, so she made a decision. Her blade went through his flesh and muscle and bone, severing his hand from the rest of him. The man shouted, crying out as she relieved him of his other hand and made a cut up his leg. He stumbled to the ground, attempting to put pressure on his leg wound with his stubs of hands. She took pity on him after a moment and used her blade to near completely decapitate him, stopping before the blade went through his spine. She kicked him over, watching as he fell with an obscene “Splat” noise. 

The Ghost sneered when the Devil approached her, making sure to watch her accent in case Gwyn could hear, “You idiot! You could have gotten her killed!”

“If I hadn’t followed you, she would have been,” She watched as he took a deep breath, almost as if he was scenting the air, “You’re hurt,”

As he spoke, the Ghost became aware of the throbbing pain in her right shoulder.  _ The man who shot at me, _ she thought. The Ghost threw back the side of her cloak, revealing a bullet wound in her shoulder, lazily oozing blood. She reached up and felt both the front and back of her shoulder, suppressing a groan when she realized the bullet had made a home in her. Without hesitation, she reached in and pulled out the bullet, thanking whatever God there was that it hadn’t gone in farther. The wound started bleeding profusely and she heard Daredevil swear. 

“Damnit! You’re not supposed to do that!” He reached over, trying to help staunch the blood flow. 

“I got this!” She hissed between her teeth, getting out her medical supplies as she sank to the floor and eyeing the matches with disdain, “I can take care of myself, get Gwyn to her house and stay there, keep her safe and tell her to pack a bag,”

“What about you?” He asked, sounding genuinely worried about her wellbeing. 

“I can take care of myself,” The Ghost took a deep breath before getting out a knife and a flask of her whiskey.

Daredevil flinched as she splashed some whiskey on her shoulder, clenching her jaw in pain, “Go!” She shooed him away with her good arm, “Get her home, I’ll be there soon,”

He hesitated a moment longer before leaping off the balcony and going to Gwyn, the Ghost could hear bits of mumbled conversation. She held the handle of the knife between her teeth and got out a second knife, heating it with a match she lit. She bit down on the handle of the first knife as she cauterized the wound, holding the knife to her shoulder one second at a time before taking a moment and doing it again. She stabbed her knife into a pile of dust that had been swept to the side after the wound was sealed, putting away the one she held between her teeth and getting out bandages. She splashed a bit more whiskey onto the wound, she’d have to clean it properly later, and started bandaging it. Her shoulder hurt like hell and her hands shook as she drank the remaining whiskey before standing up, letting the alcohol warm her body as she gripped tightly to her blade. A decent amount of her blood was all over the ground, she realized that she’d have to come back to clean it up unless she wanted anyone to have a sample. Out of other options, she swept the pile of dust over the majority of the blood, too preoccupied with worrying about Gwyn to care all that much. She reached over to where she had set her blade, the white metal stained blood red as she walked out of the building. She speed walked in pain, her shoulder throbbing but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Gwyn’s apartment building was in a busier part of the city, the Ghost climbed the fire escapes, one armed, as her shoulder was still burning, until she reached the roof of the building adjacent Gwyns’. She peered through the window of Gwyn's apartment and saw Daredevil, leaning against the bedroom wall as Gwyn rushed about the room, taking articles of clothing and stuffing them in a bag on her bed. Her eyes stung as she remembered that morning, the casual banter between friends, the gaze of utter contentment exchanged every time they met eyes. God, had it only been a day? Her resolve hardened as she saw Gwyn zipping up her suitcase. It was probably a bad idea, jumping buildings at… good lord, how was it already 4 in the morning? Especially with a brain fuzzy with whiskey, and a wounded shoulder, but she needed to. For Gwyn. The Ghost backed up, taking a few deep breaths before jumping into a sprint. She jumped off the building, her momentum sending her into the fire escape just above Gwyn’s apartment. Ghost hissed in pain as her shoulder throbbed in agony as she grabbed onto the railing to pull herself back up. She took a moment to breathe before running down the steps and knocking on Gwyn’s window. The Ghost pulled her hood further down as Gwyn jumped, turning to the window and unlocking it.

“What do you want?” The Ghost ignored Gwyn’s question as she pushed into the room and opened her suitcase. 

“You can get clothes where you’re going, you won’t need all of this, just an overnight bag for the drive,” She spoke with her accent, no need to have Gwyn figure it out now, of all times.

“What? Why? Where am I going?” Gwyn crossed her arms, standing next to the now-closed window, “I’m not leaving until you tell me what the hell is going on,”

“Daredevil, you can go, I’ve got this,” The Ghost turned to face him as she spoke, getting a nod before he jumped out of the window, off to wherever the Devil goes in his spare time.

Other than beating people up.

“Gwyn, you must listen to me. The people who kidnapped you are very dangerous, and I don’t think that they’re going to leave you alone once they realize that you’re still alive,” She started, waiting for when Gwyn would interrupt. 

“Why are they even after me?” She asked quietly, “What did I do?”

The Ghost cringed, “Yeah, that’s my fault. All of this is actually really strange compared to what I normally deal with, and the only thing I really know for certain, is that I have to get  _ you _ to safety, okay? I promise that I’ll explain everything in due time,”

Gwyn inhaled deeply and nodded, “Okay. What do you need me to do?”

* * *

“Yeah, mom. I’m- I’m coming for a visit for a few weeks, I just missed you and dad, that’s all,” Gwyn spoke softly as she drove out of the city.

“Are you sure you’re okay honey? You’re not in any trouble are you?”

“Mom, for the  _ last time _ , everything’s okay, I’m on my way now, this was just kind of a spontaneous decision,”

“Alright, sweetie, you know you’re always welcome home. Bye-bye,” 

Gwyn breathed a sigh of relief when her mother hung up the phone, throwing it on her passenger seat as she focused on driving.

She almost laughed as she thought of “The Ghost” saving her from whoever those men were, “Oh Amber, what did you get yourself into this time?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact!: The Polish mafia actually exists! Googled it. There’s a Wikipedia article and I don’t actually know how accurate it is because, well, Wikipedia, but yay! (I mean technically it's the Polish “Mob” but whatever, same difference) Please comment/leave kudos/bookmark/whatever you want really. I just want to know what you think. Plus there are so many buttons down there you can press! Bye! -Σ


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I’m back. I’m kind of upset today because tomorrow will be the three-year anniversary of my friends’ death. Because of that, I wanted to finish this chapter and post it for her. She was the most inspiring person I’ve met, and 10 times the writer I could ever be. Anyway, have a chapter! The story will get be getting more exciting soon. Enjoy.

_ For Sarah, the reason I write today.  _

_ 2003-2016 _

 

Amber walked with her eyes closed. It was  _ so bright _ for this time of year, and it hurt worse than normal. She had bumped into several people, ended up getting scolded at least twice. She turned the corner and finally the law firm was (sort of) in sight. It took her longer than normal to get there, she almost tripped over someone’s foot and then she nearly collided with a wall. On top of everything, she had a massive headache. Inside the building, she stumbled up the stairs until crashing into someone. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you!” Amber opened her eyes to see a short blonde woman frantically apologizing. 

“It’s alright,” Amber hesitantly put her hand on the woman’s shoulder to stop her rambling, “It wasn’t your fault,”

Amber continued trying to assure the woman that she wasn’t mad at her until the door opened and Foggy walked through.

“Oh, Amber! I see you’ve met Ms. Arietzki!” The woman stuttered a greeting as Foggy put his hand on her shoulder, “Matt’s actually here on time today, so we should probably get started with the meeting,”

Amber waved to the woman as Foggy ushered her inside their office. 

“Alright, we need to talk strategy. Murdock! Get in here!” Foggy re-arranged papers on his desk (likely the ones she brought him), “Matt?”

“Right here!” A bruised Matt Murdock walked (stumbled) into the room, nearly knocking the newly re-arranged papers off of Foggy’s desk.

“You alright man?” Foggy asked, leading him to the chair as Amber sat down across from them.

“Yeah, I uh, fell down some stairs this morning,” He spoke softly, the sheepish half smile on his face telling Amber that he wasn’t completely “Alright.”

Amber smiled at a memory that brought up, “Stairs and I have never gotten along. Guess it's good to know that I’m not the only one that has trouble with them,”

Foggy scoffed, “Dude, I can see and I trip down the stairs. Stairs are  _ evil _ . I bet Karen trips down the stairs too. Hey Kare-!”

“Foggy, she’s working on paperwork. That  _ you _ told her to do,” Matt smirked as Foggy blushed.

“Right! Yes, I knew that. Alright, so how do we want to play this?” he looked at Amber, “Got any ideas specifically or do you just want to hear possible options?”

“Well, I don’t think I could pull off the ‘helpless victim’ card, not anymore, plus I’ve got resting bitch face so that won’t help. I suppose people could believe the ‘self-righteous victim’ thing, ‘Oh, I just don’t want him to hurt anyone else,’ but that would make me seem a bit more insufferable than normal. And of course Garrett is going to be the ‘Charming Gentleman’ and succeed in fooling  _ everyone _ in the jury that he’s a good guy who just wanted to live his life without his ex harassing him,” Amber ran her hand over her face, stopping the word vomit before it kept going any further, “Or you could give me ideas, I don’t have anything else,”

“How about we just start with your story? Just another human being, abused for so long at such a young age and then again, with Garrett,” Foggy offered, “Plus your friend knows the details and can testify-”

“Gwyn can’t testify,” Amber interrupted.

Foggy’s head shot up from where he was re-reading a paper, “What do you mean she can’t testify? Without a testimony, all of our evidence is circumstantial,”

“Maybe, but I would rather go through everything with Garrett all over again than put Gwyn’s life in danger,” Amber stated stubbornly. 

“You think Garrett will try to hurt her?” Matt asked.

“No, not Garrett,” Amber paused to get her bearings. She had told herself this story so many times she practically started believing it, “A week or two ago she called me, she was frantic and panicked and I could hardly understand her. She kept rambling about ghosts and that she was in trouble of some kind? With a-a gang, I think? She said she was going to be staying at her mom’s place until it all blew over and asked me to cover her shifts.”

“Oh my God, Amber I’m so sorry,” Foggy put his hand on hers and she prided herself on not flinching away.

“It’s fine. I’m more worried about the case. Is there some other option we can consider? I could try and find someone else to testify, but no one else really knew about the abuse but Gwyn,” Amber said, holding back a sigh of relief when Foggy removed his hand. 

Human contact was  _ exhausting _ .

“ _ No one _ ?” Matt asked, leaning forward, “Are you certain that no one else knew?”

Amber scoffed, “Yes, yes, 4 years ago I was a total doormat. But yeah, no one else knew. When we were in public, Garrett was the perfect gentleman. Nice suit on date nights, flowers, holding doors and pulling out chairs… He fooled me. He made me think it was  _ my _ fault. That  _ I _ was in the wrong. I let him walk all over me then, but I’m not going to let him do it now. So. What can we do to win this thing?”

“Hey guys there’s a-” Karen stopped talking when she saw Matt, “Oh my God, who did that to you?”

“I’m fine, Karen,” he smiled slightly as she took in his injuries.

“Stairs. Practically my worst nightmare,” Amber grinned.

“Oh yeah! That reminds me, Karen. How often do you fall down the stairs?” Foggy leaned forward, anticipating the answer.

“Oh! Um… depends on what shoes I’m wearing?” Karen answered hesitantly and Foggy fist pumped.

“Ha! Told you stairs were evil!” Foggy grinned and Amber shook her head.

“We never doubted you Foggy,” Amber smiled at the blonde man.

“Oh shit! Matt, there’s someone on the phone for you! The whole reason I came in here!” Karen helped Matt out of his chair and into the other rooms, leaving Amber alone with Foggy. 

The two sat in silence, going through old papers and brainstorming in companionable silence. She felt that Franklin Nelson was underappreciated, she didn’t know him that well, or for very long, but she could see her and Foggy becoming good friends. He was the kind of person that could be serious when the time called for it, lighten the mood with a single comment and didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with constant chatter.  _ Yes, _ she thought with a smile, _ I have friends here _ . 

Amber heard Foggy chuckle, “What’re you grinning at? This is supposed to be a serious case,”

Amber laughed in response, “It’s nothing. Just, since this case started, for once in my life I feel like Hell’s Kitchen is my home. I have  _ people _ here that aren’t Gwyn or an abusive maniac,” She scoffed, “You probably think that sounds weird,”

“Oh, you should know by now, I’m totally down with weird. Weird, is like, my normal,” Foggy smiled at Amber.

“Yeah? Like getting caught lost in thought and smiling at a picture of your own broken ribs?” Amber chuckled a bit at her own morbid sense of humor.

Foggy hummed, “Mmm, I suppose. Though honestly, I think that says more about you than… Wait,” Foggy stood up and started rifling through the papers, “That’s it! You’re a genius, Amber!”

“Well, I mean I guess. But… What specific act of my genius are we talking about?” Amber watched as Foggy completely messed up the neatly organized stacks of paper on his desk.

“Character references! If we collect enough good character references from people who you trust, then it will completely oppose Garretts’ strategy!” Foggy pulled out a folder from his desk and handed it to her.

Foggy’s excitement must have been contagious because she felt her mood improving as well as her hopes soaring, “I can’t be painted as crazy if there’s solid evidence I’m not!” 

Foggy laughed at her excitement, handing her a pen as well, “Well? Go get your character references!” 

“I know just where to start!” Amber squeezed his arm (practically a hug, coming from her) and ran out the door. 

She paused to wave to Matt and Karen, the latter doing paperwork and the former still on the phone. 

“Don’t get into too much trouble!” Karen joked.

“If I do, I know some amazing lawyers!” Amber felt ecstatic, if this all worked, she would be free of the only man she ever feared.

Amber threw open the door and was immediately blinded, “Ah, shit,” She pulled her glasses out of her pocket (Foggy had taken to closing the blinds and curtains whenever she had an appointment) and shoved them on her face before running in the direction of her workplace. Three wall-crashing and two tripping on sidewalk cracks later, Amber was standing in front of the restaurant. She walked in and greeted the few staff members she had become acquainted with over the years (Gwyn was just friends with all of them) before knocking on her boss’s door.

“Come in!” the deep baritone voice of her boss wafted through the door as she opened it and stepped inside, “Amber! So good to see you! You have the day off, don’t you?” 

Amber was still breathing heavily from running, “Yeah, the first time since Christmas. Listen, I have a favor to ask of you,” He sat forward in his seat, “You know that lawsuit? Well, Gwyn can’t testify so I need a character reference and was wondering if you would be willing to write me one.” 

Her boss leaned back in his chair, hands crossed over his stomach, “Sure thing Amber, just leave the paper on my desk and I’ll get it to you asap,” 

She breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you, you have no idea how much my case is depending on these references,”

He chuckled, “Geez, pressure much?”

There was a knock at the door, and a blonde-haired woman peeked through the door, “Hey u-um, I’m so- sorry to both-ther you but there’s am-man asking to see you about a d-deal,” 

“Alright, I’m on my way. Amber, just set the papers on my desk and I’ll fill them out after I deal with this,” He walked out of the room, following the blonde woman. 

Amber sighed and cracked her neck, walking over to her boss’s desk and setting down a paper. She heard shouting, sounding like her boss and a second voice, this one familiar but she couldn’t place who it belonged to. Amber cracked open the door to see her boss and a red-headed man arguing. She nearly gasped when she realized it was none other than Malum himself. 

“...Nothing you can give us,” The Polish man stopped speaking and crossed his arms, “If you don’t agree, I’m sure you can spare a few dollars worth of customers. Tell me, is that worth skipping out on a small, measly payment every month?”

The men continued arguing, and she spied several more men, all armed, stationed around the restaurant.  _ He’s going to kill everyone _ , she realized,  _ I have to warn them without Malum getting word _ . Amber looked around for something, anything.  _ There! _ A fire alarm. That would get everyone out before Malum did anything. Amber opened the door slowly, creeping across the back of the room to the fire alarm. She pulled it. The alarm went off, blaring loudly as sprinklers came on and the restaurant began to evacuate. Malum glared at the ceiling and then glared at Amber’s boss. 

“ _ What did you do?? _ ” He hissed, before turning for a moment, “Never mind, you’ll pay for it anyway,”

Amber watched as Malum pulled a gun.

“ _ No! _ ” 

A shot went off. A searing pain grazed her arm as she was hit in the head with something hard and thrown in… water. She couldn’t breathe. She was trying to get up, she was struggling, she just had to get to air and then it’d be better. Everything went black.

* * *

Amber woke up blind, with a headache, and surrounded by the most awful racket. 

“Whasgoinon?” Amber slurred, keeping her eyes shut tightly. 

“Amber? It’s Karen. Are you alright?” Karen slid the glasses onto Amber’s face and she opened her eyes.

“Are they okay?” Amber asked, trying to sit up.

“What? The people at the restaurant?” Karen asked.

“Yes, is everyone alive?” Amber pulled out her IV, much to the dismay of the nurse in her room, “How did I get here?”

“The firemen. Someone pulled the fire alarm, but it was a false alarm. Did you get hurt in the rush to get out of the building?” Foggy was there too, Amber realized as he spoke.

“No, there were men with guns. They threatened my boss while I was still in his office and I overheard. They were threatening to kill everyone in the restaurant and pulling the fire alarm was the only way I could think of getting everyone out quickly,” She said, looking around for her clothes.

“ _ You _ pulled the alarm?” Foggy asked her.

“Yeah. After that, the man who was talking to my boss started yelling at him and pulled a gun. I stepped in front of him and I think the shot grazed my arm? Then, he hit me with something… Maybe his gun, and pushed me in the fountain,” The two gawked at her once she stopped talking.

“Wow,” Foggy recovered first, “That sounds like the same  _ incredibly _ stupid thing that Matt would do in that situation. What in the hell were you thinking?! You could’ve died!”

Amber tried to defend herself, “Well I couldn’t just let my boss die without at least  _ trying _ to save him first!” She tucked the fact about Matt away to be examined later, “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, Amber,” Karen said, “He got shot in the shoulder, probably the same bullet that hit you, now that I think about it, but he’s okay. He’ll live and can go back to work in a few weeks,”

“Do you think this had anything to do with Garrett?” Foggy asked her, thinking about the case.

“No. The guy sounded like a mob boss, not someone Garrett would work with,” Amber said.

“Great!” Foggy laughed sarcastically, “Another Wilson Fisk! Just what we need,”

“Yeah… Hey is Matt here?” Amber tried not to let her heart sink as Foggy and Karen shared a look.

“He’s… busy. Something came up, but he’ll probably visit you later,” Foggy informed her.

“No need, I’m leaving now,” Amber stood up and grabbed her clothes from the counter.

“You have a concussion!” He told her, “You can’t leave!”

“I can, and I will. Tell Matt I said hi, and that I’m alright,” Amber walked over to the bathroom to get changed.

A painful 30 minutes later she was changed and checked out (much to the doctors’ chagrin).

Her apartment is just the way she left it, except for one thing.

“Amber,” the voice of Daredevil filled her ears and she stiffened, “We need to talk,”

*            *            *

           “I swear, I have nothing to give you,” he said, staring down this arrogant asshole in his restaurant.

           “All I need is your agreement to my conditions and I will leave, but instead you say you have nothing to give to me,” he felt sweat running down his neck as the men behind him cocked their guns, “If you don’t agree, I’m sure you can spare a few dollars worth of customers. Tell me, is that worth skipping out on a small, measly payment every month?” 

           He clenched his jaw before he noticed Amber sneaking towards the fire alarm.  _ Sneaky bastard, good idea!  _ He kept making his argument, trying to distract the man. Good thing he wasn't very bright. The alarm went off and he smiled at the enraged look on the mans’ face. 

           “ _ What did you do?? _ ” He hissed, before turning for a moment, “Never mind, you’ll pay for it anyway,” 

           He watched in horror as the man pledge a gun and cocked it. He fired just as Amber jumped in front of him, glazing her arm and redirecting the bullet into his shoulder instead of his heart. 

           “ _ No!”  _ He heard himself scream as Amber was pistol whipped and thrown in the decorative fountain. The man walking away was the last thing he saw before passing out from the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave comments to give me feedback/ideas/anything really. Other than that go play with the buttons down there, and have a better day than me! Bye! -Σ


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome one and all to the event you’ve all been looking forward to! THE TRIAL!!! Okay just kidding, I think I might have been the only one looking forward to this… Anyway! I’m keeping this note short so you can get right on to reading the chapter, but I wanted to thank everyone!! Last I checked this had 313 hits and omg. Why is this? I didn’t actually expect anyone to read this, much less more than 300 people. Anyway. Thanks, please comment or leave kudos… Go read the chapter! Enjoy!   
> [PS, trigger warnings for Abuse (mentioned and shown in a flashback), and derogatory language (Also in a flashback)]

Amber sat in her chair and gave a cool gaze to the rest of the courtroom. There was Garrett, looking nervous and not at all like the monster he was. She tried keeping her breathing even, closing her eyes for a moment while forcing herself to at least  _ try _ and pay attention to the proceedings. The strategy  _ maybe _ worked for about half a minute. A sigh escaped as she finally allows her mind to wander, not even caring where it drifted to this time.  _ Wrong _ . Amber opened her eyes again, trying not to think about the confrontation between her and Daredevil. During which she had tried to mask her voice by talking lower than normal, although they had already spoken like this once, and many more times when she was in “uniform,” so she shouldn't have been as nervous as she was when he spoke to her… 

* * *

_ “Amber,” the voice of Daredevil filled her ears and she stiffened, “We need to talk,” _

__ _ Amber turned around slowly, fearing that he had figured out who she really was, “What are you doing in my apartment?” _

__ _ Daredevil stood up, he couldn’t have been more than a few inches taller than her (She was pretty tall for a woman and she knew it) but he seemed to tower over her at that moment.  _

__ _ “I need your help,” he said softly. _

__ _ “What for?” Amber couldn’t help being defensive, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head back to appear taller. _

__ _ He sighed softly, an action that seemed to hold more weight than any one man should bear, “Your friend, Gwyn. She was kidnapped a little while ago because she was friends with a vigilante, ‘The Ghost,’ I’m sure you’ve heard of her.” _

__ _ Amber shifted on her feet, “I know what happened. And of course, I’ve heard of The Ghost, I’m friends with Gwyn,” The statements were unrelated, but she knew how they’d be interpreted, “What did you need help with? I’m tired and I’ve got a court case to win in a few days.” _

__ _ “I need to know everything you know about the Ghost,” He said, and she felt her heart rate increase. _

__ _ She took a breath, trying to calm herself, “I can’t do that, I won’t” _

__ _ “Why?” He took a step closer as she stepped back. _

__ _ “None of your business maybe?” She was being rude, but that was her chosen defense. _

__ _ “...You know who the Ghost is, don’t you?” He asked her, as she tried to quiet her internal cursing. _

__ _ “No. Now get out of my apartment,” She said, hoping he’d buy the outright lie. _

__ _ He tilted his head as if he was listening for something, “You’re lying,” he smiled, “You don’t have to tell me her identity. Honestly, I didn’t think she’d have told anyone and left them alive… I just need to find her,” _

__ _ “What do you need from her? If it’s important,  _ maybe _ I’ll forget you broke into my apartment and tell the Ghost,” Amber stated, still a bit annoyed at the man in red. _

__ _ “It is  _ very _ important,” he said, “But I can’t tell you, I don’t want to put you in any danger,” _

__ _ She almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation, even then she smirked at him, “I’m already in danger. I know the identity of the Ghost, as you clearly know because you could tell I was lying… Although how you know, I have no clue… Are you enhanced?”  _

_ A flicker of a smile crossed his face for a split second. _

__ _ “It can’t be mind-reading, otherwise, you wouldn’t need to ask. You could just be a human lie detector… but I doubt it. So, either you’re like Gwyn and can interpret body language scary well, or you could sense my heartbeat… Enhanced hearing? Just enhanced senses in general?” Amber winced at her rambling. _

__ _ He broke into a grin, “Something like that,” he paused, grin falling, “Just… tell the Ghost to meet me on the roof of this building a week from now, I have some information I think she needs to know,” He turned towards her window, looking like he was about to jump out. _

__ _ “Can you at least tell me what it’s about? She’s more guaranteed to listen to me if she knows you actually have something important to tell her,” Amber reasoned. _

__ _ He turned his head slightly to the side, still facing away from her, “It’s about the Polish mafia,” and with that, he jumped out the window. _

__ _ Amber closed her window and blinds before collapsing onto her bed. That was too close. _

* * *

“The defense calls the defendant to the stand,” Amber was thrust back into the present when Garrett’s lawyer called him to the stand. 

Amber sat up straight and paid close attention. Garretts’ testimony was exactly what she was expecting. He played the part of the nervous, concerned and heartbroken ex-boyfriend. Even  _ she  _ was impressed with how well he lied. He had gotten better, just the right amount of truth and lie to sell it to the jury. The testimony started with him explaining how they met, (Amber pick-pocketed him and he chased her down) and how they ended up in New York together. Her frustration was almost palpable when he spoke of her as a victim of horrible abuse when she was younger, frequent panic attacks and “obvious PTSD”. Said he “Begged her to go to therapy but she refused” when he was the one who had pulled her out of therapy to begin with. (He claimed it cost too much when in reality he just wanted her to keep quiet about the abuse). When confronted about the video footage provided, he said that Amber asked him to do it to satisfy a fantasy she had always had (She was close to getting up and attacking him after that statement). The only evidence of her rage was her clenched fists, her nails digging into the palms of her hands, her expression was one of calm resignation. Garrett finished his testimony telling about how he finally had enough and left her (It was the other way around), saying that they fought the next day when she confronted him (The motherfucker was really starting to piss her off). A few more questions by the prosecution and a well-placed lie later, the case was obviously leaning in Garretts’ favor. The defense actually had some good, if discriminating, arguments. Garrett must have been directing it because his lawyer seemed to be recalling from memory a script of some sort. Amber must have zoned out at some point because the next time she looked up her boss was on the stand. She had to mask her surprise, she didn’t realize that he was going to be testifying.

He was in the middle of answering a question, must have been about her mental health because that's what he was talking about, “Amber? No. No way. She is literally the most stable person I’ve ever met. Eight years ago she asked for a job at my restaurant, said she’d take literally anything ‘cause she just moved here and needed some sort of job. I’m not gonna lie, it was a crap job, minimum wage but she worked full time and she did her job well, nev’r complained, never nagged me ‘bout getting a raise or anythin’. It was six years before I promoted her to wait staff,” He paused, glancing at Amber, “One of the hardest workers I’ve ever had. Even a while back, she was always gettin’ hurt and comin’ in anyway. I says to her, ‘Amber, you’re so hurt, you gotta go home,” and she responds, ‘that won’t help, I got bills to pay and my insurance won’t cover everything.’ She came in with broken ribs once. A concussion another time. I had to call the hospital one time ‘cause she passed out,” He sat up straight and glared at Garrett, “She had four fractured ribs, a sprained wrist, and a severe concussion. Doctor’ said gal was lucky to be awake ‘s long as she had been… Gal had  _ set her own ribs _ , they said. It stopped four years ago, It’ll be five in October. I had my suspicions she was bein’ abused but I stayed outta it, I didn’t stick my nose in ‘cause it’s not by business ‘til she makes it my business,” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Look, Amber is a real klutz in the daytime, I know that, but she hain’t ever been that hurt since she broke it off, not even broken anythin. All I know is that Amber is in no way mentally unsound, you can’t spend time with her and  _ not _ know that. That’s all I have to say,” He looked down at his folded hands, and Amber regretted that she had misjudged him when they met. 

Her boss was a strange man, everyone who spoke to him called him boss, even his friends called him that. Always wrote or signed his name as “Boss Wendy” or just “Boss.” He didn’t meddle in anyone’s affairs, didn’t take shit from anyone or anything. At first meeting, he seemed to be cruel and uncaring, but that wasn’t true, Amber knew that now, the testimony put her in a different light, painted her as a girl with high pain tolerance and a sad past that stays where it belongs. 

From the looks Matt and Foggy were exchanging, Amber could tell it wasn’t leaning in their direction, even with her boss’s testimony. Her mind started wandering again, drifting away from her doomed trial (She knew that less than 2% of domestic abuse offenders actually did jail time). 

“-I’d like to testify on behalf of Amber Steel,” The courtroom doors opened, Amber went rigid as she recognized the voice of the woman walking into the courtroom.

“…The prosecution calls Gwyn Harren to the stand,” Foggy spoke immediately, as Gwyn made her way to the stand (is that even allowed? Walk-in testimonies?). 

The panic set in as Gwyn began to talk, starting at the beginning when they first met, while Amber tried to calm her panic. She checked the doors, scanned over people and felt the paranoia take control,  _ is he going for a gun?? No, but I think I hear footsteps outside the courtroom… could it be them? Could Malum have found her already?? Gwyn and I are going to die. Wait no, just Gwyn, they don’t know who I am- wait no, Malum will just kill  _ Everyone _. Matt and Foggy and the judge and the people in the jury and-  _ She took a breath, she had to calm down or someone would find out she was panicking. Quickly she ran through strategies, eyes darting about quickly as she scanned exit routes and possible entryways, what would happen in an ideal scenario (getting out unharmed with at least Gwyn, Matt, Foggy, the Judge, and most of the jurors), and what would happen in a likely scenario (Getting Gwyn out safely while she died trying to stop Malum from killing the rest of them). Matt must have noticed her frantic planning (She had escape plans all the way to half-formed plan D) because out of out of nowhere, he grabbed her hand. Before, her hands had been clutching (painfully) at her skirt under the table, while now Matt had grabbed one of her (sweaty, ugh) hands with his own and was rubbing soothing circles into the (calloused from overuse) things that she called her hands. 

Her internal struggle (Mostly consisting of “What does this mean???????”) was interrupted later by the judge (where did Gwyn go?) speaking, “Will the jury foreperson please stand? Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?”

Amber sat up straighter, her ears perked, hoping beyond hope for a “Guilty” verdict.

She watched in dismay as one of the men in the jury (likely the foreperson) shook their head no. Amber hid it well, but she was worried, worried what would happen if the jury found Garrett “Not Guilty” and let him go. What tortures would she have to endure? She wasn’t an idiot, she knew she could take him down  _ easy _ , but in her head, Garrett would always just be “her tormentor” or a myriad of other less kind names. She knew the wait was likely to be long, but she sat rigid in her chair, frozen and staring blankly at the space in front of her.  _ Focus _ , she told herself,  _ don’t let yourself panic _ . It was easier said than done, she tried to just pay attention to her shaking hand, still being held by Matt, who was tracing random patterns into her skin at this point. When she spared him a glance, she saw that he had a small smile on his face, as if he did this every day and was happy to continue. There was something almost familiar about his smile, reminding her of a certain red-clad vigilante… her face heated up as she remembered their now far-away seeming kiss on the rooftop. She thanked her lucky stars for a moment that she didn’t blush visibly, then cursed herself thinking it because Matt couldn’t see. The fear started coming back, so she allowed herself to briefly entertain the idea that Matt was Daredevil (crazy). The two guys she liked (at least according to Gwyn) being the same person… fighting with Matt would probably be fun… She knew it couldn’t be, he was blind… right? A moment after she cursed herself for even  _ having  _ the thought, reminding herself that  _ she _ was blind too. Plus the defense lawyers literally based one of their points on how she couldn’t have escaped the way she did, she “can’t fight” she’s blind. She really hated Garrett for that one. Looking back on her memories, (Anything to get away from the trial at this point) she remembered the very first time he physically abused her, the first time she ever cried from something he did… 

* * *

_ Amber walked up the steps to her apartment building, dreading her arrival at home as she had for the past month. She stopped in front of her door, mentally preparing herself for the barrage of insults she was likely to receive.  _ Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten my hair cut _ , she thought, running her hands through her brand-new pixie cut as she got out her keys. Amber walked in, and for the first time in over a month, she was greeted with silence. _

__ _ “Garrett?” She hesitantly called out, “Are you here?”  _

__ _ Amber was greeted once again by silence. She crept throughout the apartment, stopping when she saw Garrett passed out on their couch, surrounded by beer bottles. She sighed in relief, there would be no yelling yet. She set down her bag in her closet, running into the kitchen to start dinner for her and Garrett, hopefully, he wouldn’t wake up until it was done. Amber waited patiently for the water to boil before pouring in the noodles, stirring them carefully so they wouldn’t break. Spaghetti was not a complex dish, but it was easy to make it look and taste good, so it was her go-to dinner these days, since she was the only one with a job now. The pasta was sufficiently softened now and she poured it into the collider before getting out the sauce and leftover meat from a meal they had had a few nights ago (It was going to go bad soon and they couldn’t afford to waste food) and placing the two in the microwave. She split the spaghetti, putting a bit more on Garrett’s plate than hers, (She didn’t have much of an appetite these days) and sprinkling on the meat and sauce when the microwave signaled that the food was done warming up. A bit of parmesan on both of the plates (Parmesan is to be used sparingly) and two forks. Amber worked quickly at setting the table, setting aspirin and a glass of water on Garretts’ side along with a glass of water for herself, before calling Garrett for dinner once it was ready. She watched from her chair, wary with anticipation as Garrett stumbled into the room. Amber felt her heart sink as he leveled her with a glare, signifying that he was still drunk.  _

__ _ “What’s all this shit?” He asked her coldly. _

__ _ “W-well, I got home from work early, so I thought I might make us some dinner,” Amber said quickly, “I got you some aspirin, why don’t you come sit down and eat with me? Just like we used to?” Amber couldn’t keep the hopeful note out of her voice, though it was squashed as his rage broke through again. _

__ _ “You think I was talking about this?? What the  _ fuck _ did you do to your hair??” Garrett stormed over and pulled her up out of her chair by the collar of her shirt, “You know what you look like? You look like a fuking lesbian. I will not have people thinking that my  _ girlfriend _ , is some piece of shit faggot!!” _

__ _ Amber winced at his words, knowing better than to talk back to him.  _

__ _ “Huh? What do you say?? Answer me, bitch!” Amber’s eyes went wide as he threw her back into the table, hitting her back hard before falling back further and banging her head.  _

_ The unpleasant feel of spaghetti and water spread across her shoulders, and the bite of broken glass was unmistakable as she stared up at Garrett with tears running down her face. She was surprised and she knew that somewhere inside the man in front of her, Garrett was surprised too. They both knew she hadn’t cried since her mother. _

_ “Clean this shit up and then take a shower. I’m going out,” Garrett grabbed his coat and left the apartment, leaving behind a stunned Amber. _

_ * _ __ _ * _ __ _ * _

Amber was jerked back into the present by Matt’s hand squeezing her own suddenly.

She heard the judge say those 13 words for a second time in one day, “Will the jury foreperson please stand? Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?”

She felt a cold mixture of dread and anticipation as the jury foreperson nodded yes, handing the verdict form to the clerk, who handed it to the judge to read silently. The seconds seem to stretch on and on as the judge read the verdict and handed the sheet of paper back to the clerk, who read out loud, “The jury finds the defendant…”

* * *

Matt didn’t know what he was thinking when he grabbed her hand, it was so much more spontaneous than his normal actions, he surprised himself almost. All he knew is that she was panicking, her heart was beating erratically and her breathing was uneven. Having a panic attack in court probably wouldn’t help sell her being completely mentally sound. The magnitude of the range of emotions she felt in that moment was impressive, to say the least, changing from panic, to confusion, to rage, and tons of others in the span of a few seconds. A few seconds of some embarrassing thought or other (causing her already warm skin to heat up like mad) here, fear for something/someone (Gwyn?) there, and the cycle going on, and on. Distracting her seemed like it was also a good distraction in itself, for once he wasn't thinking about the Ghost or the awful secrets he learned about the Polish mafia (The Hand didn’t part with that information willingly). He sighed, the Ghost would  _ not  _ be happy about these recent developments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh. I really like cliffhangers. :) Please comment what you think the verdict will be or give me feedback or suggestions or talk about your cat or anything really. I have some things I need yall’s opinion on. So! Back in chapter 4 I asked what you thought about “a second work that has information about the universe, artwork I/my friends/anyone do, little scenes from other times that I threw out from the story that was irrelevant, words of wisdom from Amber (Any new stuff would be updated with the chapters of this story), and various other things.” No one ever responded. Or if they did, I didn’t get it, so please let me know about that, and I was thinking that after I was done with this I will write a series of prequels detailing events from Amber’s past (Her time with Garrett, her early life, etc). I honestly just want to know if anyone would actually be interested enough to read it, or if I should just leave it alone. (Also, should I add a “Graphic Descriptions of Violence” tag?) So please please please comment and tell me. Alright, that’s all for now. Have a good day and I hope you enjoyed the chapter (excluding cliffhanger)! Bye! -Σ


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back!!!! (On a Sunday, Whoops). Sorry I’m late! I fell into the Smallville fandom (I know, like 15 years late) and then I fell into the Supernatural fandom (Which is going to be canceled after season 15) so please blame (don’t really) the fantastic actors and plotlines that actually exist. I’m going to put everything (mostly, anyway. lol) I have to say at the end of the chapter this week. So enjoy the chapter! TW: Violence, and semi-graphic violence against le small humans (Not by Matt or Amber, don’t worry).  
> I own nothing but my OC’s and the Plot.

“The jury finds the defendant ‘Not Guilty,’” The judge banged his gavel on the stand, signifying the end of the trial.

Amber started to shake, she saw Garrett throw her a smug look as he stood up.

“ _ No _ ,” she whispered under her breath.

The jurors were glaring at her in anger, she started to have trouble breathing. 

“Well Amber, we lost. Now we’ve got a counterclaim to worry about,” Foggy told her, shuffling his papers.

The walls seemed to be closing in.

“W-we can keep pursuing the case though, right?” Amber took a shaky breath.

“No point, honestly. We’ll just lose that one too. Unless you had other accusations or more evidence of a different crime,” He started stacking the folders.

“But, we already h-have all this evidence,” Amber reasoned, panic setting in, “Why can’t we just-” 

“Because you can’t try someone for the same crime multiple times. It’s not always fair, but it’s the law,” Foggy told her sharply.

Garrett shook hands with the judge, who called him, “A fine example of a gentleman,”

“So I’m just supposed to let him go?” Amber asked him, tears welling up in her eyes.

Foggy didn’t respond. The room seemed to be getting colder, someone from the jury scoffed when they saw the tears running down her face.

_ Where is Matt? _ She thought to herself,  _ He can’t agree with this! He always trusted my word, why is Foggy acting so cold towards me? _

__ Amber looked around, but Matt Murdock was nowhere to be found. The room was so cold she swore she could see her breath, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth. The beginnings of a headache were starting to form, and Garrett walked over to where she sat huddled up on her chair. 

“Amber, it’s time to go home now,” He grabbed her wrist, dragging her along with him.

She was  _ certain  _ that she was stronger than him, but for some reason, she couldn’t pry her wrist from his grip, and her voice wouldn’t work or let her scream…

“ _ No!!” _ Amber jolted up in bed, her breathing was heavy and her sleep clothes were covered in sweat. 

She took a moment for her breathing to even out before standing up to shower and change. A glance at the clock told her she had slept for an astonishing 10 hours, more sleep than she had gotten in the past week combined. Her boss had given her yesterday and today off, and she decided to sleep last night, in celebration. Amber smiled as she recalled the court hearing, the “Guilty” verdict, and Garrett’s face as he was handcuffed and dragged out of the room. The look on his face was  _ priceless _ . Amber turned on the shower before shucking off her sleep clothes and getting in. The day felt light, and even her impending conversation with Daredevil about the Polish Mafia wasn’t enough to dampen her mood.  _ Life, with the possibility of parole in 45 years. _ She grinned, he would be  _ 70 _ before they even  _ considered _ parole. She quickly washed her hair, a smile on her face and humming silently. She shut off the water, getting out, toweling herself off and dressing. 

“Alright. Things to do…” Amber looked at the towel-covered mirror, “Talk to Boss, call Gwyn, thank my lawyers… Get a haircut…” she pulled her fingers through her too-long hair, tickling the back of her neck, “Awesome,”

8 minutes later and she was out the door, walking towards a haircut. She got it cut a bit shorter than the time before, and got lowlights dyed in.

“You look nice Amber, come back again when you need another haircut!” 

“Thanks! I will,” and then she was out the door again, walking to Nelson and Murdock.

Her phone buzzed just outside the building, lighting up with a text from her boss to meet him tomorrow, something about her job and a new opening. She quickly responded and entered the building, already counting her cash.

“Hey Amber! Nice haircut!” Amber nearly walked into Foggy when she walked through the door, “How does it feel to finally be free?”

“Thanks, it feels great!” She ran a thumb across the bills she had on her, “What do I owe you for this?”

“Matt’s actually got the price in here somewhere,” Foggy set a stack of folders on his desk, leafing through the papers and handing one to Amber.

She squinted at the paper and handed Foggy the appropriate amount of bills before thanking him again and turning to leave.

“Wait! Amber!” Amber turned back to him and saw Karen walk in the room, “Matt, Karen, and I are going to Josie’s tonight to celebrate. You should come with us!”

“I don’t know…” She had to work her  _ night job _ . 

“C’mon Amber! It’ll be fun!” Karen smiled at her.

“I probably shouldn’t,” she told the two who had decided to gang up on her.

“Matt! Get out here and tell Amber she should come with us!” Foggy banged on Matt’s door loudly and the blind man quickly walked out.

“What? Yeah, Amber. You should celebrate with us. It is  _ your _ case we just won, after all.” He sounded self-conscious.

After closer inspection, Amber realized it was probably because he was covered in bruises. A trip down the stairs…?

“That’s a fair point,” she decided, laughing as Foggy fist-pumped, “Yeah, I’ll be there. What time?” 

“9:30?” He asked.

“Sounds good to me. See Y'all then!” Amber left the building feeling happier than she had in a while. 

She smiled. For once, she had more than just Gwyn.

* * *

“Hey Gwyn, just checking in to make sure you got there safely,” Amber spoke into her phone as she walked to Josie’s.

“Yeah. I’m fine. No crazy-ass mobsters tried to abduct me on my way here. Promise,” Gwyn said through the speaker, “I got to go now though,”

“Oh. Okay, alright. I guess I’ll see you later then?” Amber felt her heart sink at Gwyn’s slightly accusatory tone.

“Maybe. Bye Amber,” The call ended abruptly, leaving Amber feeling upset outside of a dive bar. 

She shoved her phone in her bag (which contained her Ghost outfit makeup and weapons. No way she was setting it down) and walked in the building to see Matt and Foggy playing pool while Karen helped Matt.

“Hey, guys,” Amber said as Matt (sans glasses) sunk the cue ball, enticing a groan from Karen, “Who’s winning?”

“Foggy,” Karen said at the same time as Matt.

“Can I play winner?” She asked good-naturedly.

“You can play now if you want. You’ll probably do a better job at helping Matt than I can,” Karen said, “Want a drink?”

“Yeah, sure. Just no whiskey, please. Other than that I don’t care,” Amber responded as Karen walked over to the bar. 

“Want to help me, Amber?” Matt glanced (more or less) in her direction.

“Sure,” She fought off the instinctual panic of  _ HUMAN CONTACT NOOOOOOO _ and the more rational,  _ what if someone finds my bag?  _

She solved the bag problem by tying it under a chair, where she could keep an eye on it, and then she walked over next to Matt. Amber ignored the fresh waves of panic as she helped Matt line up the shot. Amber managed to line it up just perfect enough that Matt was able to sink the 11 ball and 13 ball in one shot. 

“Wow! You’re a good shot, Amber!” Foggy exclaimed as Amber lined up another shot.

“My dad and I used to play pool all the time when I was a kid. I like to say I got pretty good,” Amber told Foggy as Matt sunk another ball and Karen handed her a drink.

She was so distracted by the games (and beating Foggy) that she almost didn’t notice the man (who was clearly Polish mafia) walk in. She immediately split her focus, her and Matt winning the current game on one hand, and listening to that man’s phone call on the other. The man ordered a drink and Amber took a sip of hers, tapping into her (admittedly rusty) Polish to understand what he was saying. The rough translation was something about a warehouse shipment… 10th and 53rd… That wasn’t far from here. The man left about 5 minutes later, and it took Amber and Matt a few minutes later to finish (win) the game. She needed to get out of here and follow him. Had to see what they were up to.

“Hey Foggy, I got to go, but this was fun. We should do it again sometime soon. Next week maybe?” Amber said as she slipped on her glasses (The light had been dim enough not to hurt too much) and untied her bag from the chair.

“For sure!” Karen said to Amber (Karen was  _ definitely _ tipsy).

“Yeah, Foggy, I got to go too. It’s late and I should be getting home,” Matt said to Foggy as he put on his jacket, “I’ll walk you, Amber,” 

“Alright,” That threw a wrench in her plan, she had planned on changing in an alleyway, but she’d figure something out, “Let’s go,” 

The two walked slowly in the direction of Amber’s apartment, waiting for a taxi to appear. 

“Thanks for walking me, you didn’t have to,” Amber told Matt, “Will you be able to find your own way?” 

“I wanted to. And yes, I can get home,” He smirked at her, “Worried about me?”

“Is that so wrong?” Amber smiled back.

_ Damnit. _ Why does he have to have a nice smile too?

“No, it just seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life lately,” He joked good-naturedly.

“Well, it probably has something to do with all the trips down the stairs you take,” Amber hoped she hadn’t gone too far but her fear was dispelled when he barked a laugh.

“Yeah, maybe,” Matt said as Amber hailed a nearby taxi.

“Thanks for walking me, Matt,” She told him, “But I think I can get home on my own now,”

“Alright,” He smiled, “Have a good night, Amber,” 

“You too, Matt,” She smiled as she got in the taxi, telling him the address for a building a few streets away from the corner of 10th and 53rd.

She was dropped off and was walking towards the building until she was certain that no one was there when she ducked into an alleyway. 

* * *

The Ghost had stashed her bag in a dumpster on 7th and 53rd before she climbed a fire escape and got to running. She was on her way to the address when she saw and quickly dispatched a mugger (left him tied up for the cops), stopping to make sure the woman was okay before running on her way again. The Ghost was a block away when she saw him. She almost wanted to jump him, but remembering his enhanced senses decided better of it. 

“Why did you talk to Amber?” She let her accent bleed into her voice, knives in both her hands and poised to strike.

“I’m sorry, I needed to contact you,” Daredevil told her, sounding apologetic, “I figured out something about the Polish mafia and figured you’d want to know,”

“Yeah, well next time leave Amber out of it,” the Ghost growled, “I’ve put her in enough danger with how much she knows about me already, I don’t need her knowing about  _ two _ vigilantes. Alright?” 

“Okay, okay, you’re right,” he spoke softly, “I overstepped. But I didn’t know how else to contact you,”

“Send her a letter next time, I don’t even care anymore. Just don’t make people think she knows anything about you,” The Ghost stated, her anger draining out of her and being replaced by resignation, “I’m going to a warehouse on 10th and 53rd. The Polish mafia has got a shipment of some sort coming in there. You want to help?”

“Sure. But I should warn you,” He said as she started running, “the ‘shipment,’ it’s-” 

“Less talking and more running. I’ll figure it out when I get there, and then we’ll make the bastards pay,” The Ghost cut Daredevil off as she started running towards the warehouse. 

* * *

When they arrived she let herself appreciate his athletic build for a few moments before they found a window on an upper floor of the warehouse that they could look through. The Ghost could see several dozen men crowded around some sort of large, metal containers. One of them walked over to one and opened it, pulling a small figure out of it.

“Oh my God,” Ghost put a hand over her mouth as a young, frail, indian boy was dragged out of the container. 

He had light skin that was too pale, his eyes were sunken and his bones jutted out of his small frame. When the Ghost looked closer she saw that he had a gash on his cheek and a pattern of bruises across his eyebrow. She felt a wetness on her face, probably smearing her makeup as she shed a tear for her innocence and the innocence of these children. And there  _ were  _ more of them, Ghost knew because she could hear the anguished cries of some of the young, and as the container was opened further she could see a girl (clearly the boy’s sister) screaming and reaching for the little boy. 

“They will all  _ pay _ for this,” Daredevil honest to God  _ growled _ .

And okay,  _ hot _ but really not the time for these thoughts  _ damnit Amber! _

“I’ll take them all, now,” The Ghost tried to stand but was held in place by Daredevil, “What? Why are we waiting while these kids are being tortured?” 

“Because there are  _ dozens _ of them, and if we go in now, they’ll have the advantage,” Daredevil told her.

Ghost felt her rage build up further, “What-”

“We both know that we fight better in the dark,” He said to her, “There’s a reason no one hears about us fighting in the daylight,”

“So? We find a fuse, just  _ let me go _ ,” She looked at his red-tinted eyes. 

“I’ll let you go when you calm down enough to think clearly,” He spoke in almost a whisper.

“H-how are  _ you _ calm?! Why is this not effecting you?” She knew she was being irrational, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Ghost. Just take a deep breath, okay?” She did so several times until she felt calm enough to see reason (And feel Daredevil’s hands holding her fore-arms) before nodding at him and standing.

She drew her knives and glanced through the window at the men, who were now beating on the boy, “Let’s go punish those motherfuckers,”

* * *

Garrett stared through the bars at the hallway wall, letting his rage simmer a bit. His lawyer was going to get him out of this, he knew. And when he got out, that bitch of an Ex of his was going to pay for his imprisonment. A flash of wine-red hair snapped him out of his trance and he was at the bars in a second.

“Amber Steel, you bitch, how dare you show your face here??” He growled at the red -haired person who had just passed.

Said red-haired person (Not Amber???) stopped and turned around, walking to his cell and looking at Garrett.

Garrett was met with the shock of seeing a man who looked  _ so much _ like Amber he thought he was having a dream.

“You know Amber Steel?” The man asked in an accent (Amber used to have one too, until he beat it out of her) that was probably Polish.

“Yeah, Bitch put me in here,” He told the man, “Why?”

He felt strong hands pull him into the bars, “What do you know about her?”

“W-why should I tell you?” He grunted, struggling in the man’s grip.

“I’ll get you out of prison, I thought that was a given,” The man rolled his eyes.

Garrett grinned, “Alright. So bitch acts all like the victim all the time right? Well get this,” he paused for dramatic effect, “She’s that vigilante. The new one, the Ghost? Yeah, she kept sneaking out of the window at night when we lived together and no one heard of the Ghost before she started doing that,”

The man’s eyes widened slightly before he released Garrett, wiping his hands on his black jacket.

“This makes things more interesting,” He said as he walked away.

“Hey, wait!” Garrett called after him, “You said you’d get me out, you bastard! Come back!” Garrett’s screams faded as the man walked away, re-evaluating his plans for the Ghost of Hell’s kitchen.

Mallum smiled to himself, “I believe it’s time I meet my sister,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! I hope you enjoyed (most of) the chapter! Please comment to tell me what you think, or give me feedback, or suggestions, or anything really. Back in chapter 4 I asked what you thought about “a second work that has information about the universe, artwork I/my friends/anyone do, little scenes from other times that I threw out from the story that was irrelevant, words of wisdom from Amber (Any new stuff would be updated with the chapters of this story), and various other things.” Please let me know about that, and I was hoping that after I was done with this I can write a series of prequels detailing events from Amber’s past (Her time with Garrett, her early life, etc). I would like to know if anyone would actually be interested enough to read it, or if I should just leave it alone. (Also, should I add a “Graphic Descriptions of Violence” tag?) Please, if you have time comment and tell me. One last thing, have an idea for a fic involving Lex Luthor. (It wouldn’t be posted until this fic was completed or at least completely written) Because. I can. And I want to… unless yall say I will be shunned for writing *gasp* both marvel and DC fic. Anyway, Bye! -Σ


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m laaaate sorryyyyy. Anyway, I think I might post on Fridays or Sundays from now on actually, as Sunday gives me more time to edit or re-work the chapter. Also, I’d just like everyone to know that this is the first time I’ve sat down to work on this and it hasn’t ended in me looking at pictures of Misha Collins. Yes, so this Chapter is a bit more low-key because I re-read everything and realized that this is really action-oriented and wanted a bit of ‘normal life’ thrown in too to make the characters more relatable. Anyway, after this Chapter things are going to speed up a bit, (not gonna lie, this is a bit of a filler) plotlines are going to come together, and all that jazz. This likely isn’t going to be over anytime soon though, so don’t worry. (I have 67 major plot points in my outline lol) Anyway, enjoy the Chapter! (Should I start using Chapter titles?)  
> I own nothing but my OC’s and the plot.

Amber woke up sore. She groaned as she cracked her stiff neck and rolled over to face the ceiling. Last night had been  _ awful _ . Ever since she and Daredevil rescued those kids from the Polish mafia it seemed that there was  _ always _ another shipment. Amber was really stretched thin, going out from sundown to sunup every night, sometimes even before sunset. On top of that, she had a job to work. She sat up and stretched, running her hands through her hair before getting up to shower. The warm water felt good on her aching muscles, soothing some of the pains, but she had to get out unless she wanted to have a massive water bill at the end of the month. She could hardly believe it was already April, four months since Christmas, four months since everything truly started going to shit. Amber got out of the shower after washing the conditioner from her hair, toweling herself off and pulling on the clothes she had set out the night before. Slipping her shoes on and grabbing her shades, she quickly left for work. Technically, her shift wouldn’t start until a half-hour after she was there, but Boss wanted to see her. Once she was changed into her work uniform, she quickly walked over to Boss’s door and knocked, waiting for the faint “come in” before entering.

“Hey Boss, what can I help you with?” She gave him a small smile as she sat down across from him. 

Her Boss still had a few bruises decorating his face, likely from when he passed out from the pain of being shot. 

“Good morning Amber!” He shot her a bright smile before standing up and pouring a cup of coffee, “First things first; you look like hell. Have some coffee,”

Amber chuckled as Boss placed the mug on his desk in front of her, “Thank you, I haven’t been sleeping too well lately,”

“Yeah, I’d imagine. The court case stir up some old memories?” He asked as Amber took a sip of the coffee.

“Yeah, a bit. Thank you for the testimony, by the way, it really helped,” Amber quickly downed half the cup, “Anyway, what did you want to see me about? A potential job?”

He smirked, “This is why I like you, Amber; No beating around the bush, just straight to the point,” he sighed, “Yes. A job opportunity is opening up soon and I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to fill it.”

Amber started getting a bad feeling, “What job?”

“Mine,” He said sheepishly.

“W-what?” Amber was stunned, “That-that’s not just a  _ job _ , you own the entire restaurant chain!” 

“Amber, I have no heirs and I’ve decided to retire next year,” He examined her shocked face, “I will stay as long as it takes for you to be trained to do my job as the owner of the chain and as manager of this building.”

“But, why? You’re hardly 40, and of all people why me?” Amber asked.

He laughed a sad chuckle, “When I was in the hospital, they were doing a routine check-up and they found something strange, so they decided they should do an ultrasound,”

Amber couldn’t breathe.

“I have stage 3 congestive heart failure,” He gave her a small, sad smile, “I’ve got at the most 5 years left and I want to spend it in Italy with my deceased wife’s family,” 

“There’s nothing you can do?” She asked sadly.

“Diet and exercise to improve my ‘quality of life’” he used finger quotes, “But no. There’s no cure. What I want now is to have the toughest employee I’ve got succeed me. And that’s  _ you _ , Amber,” 

A tear rolled down her face, “Okay,” she wiped off her face, “I’ll do it. When do I start?”

“You’ll be in here with me training during half of your shift, paid, of course. I want to introduce you to some people that will help you with the bookkeeping and everything,” He looked up like he was trying to remember what more to say, “And I’ll take you to board meetings, so you can see how things go, ease you into the business world… That alright with you?”

“Y-yes,” She cleared her throat and sat up straighter, “Yes, that’s amazing. Thank you for the opportunity,”

He smiled, “Thank you for accepting. You’re free to go,”

Amber nodded, drinking the rest of her coffee before setting it next to the machine where Boss pointed to and walking out into the hallway and then break room. She waited the 10 minutes until her shift attempting to wake up and look presentable. It worked decently, and Amber had an uneventful shift; only one person asked if she was alright and they believed it when she told them she was just a bit tired. She had a double shift today, so after grabbing a to-go sandwich from a cheap diner, she headed back to the breakroom for her half-hour break. It was 10 minutes before she succumbed to her desires and called Gwyn.

“Hello?” Amber smiled at the sound of Gwyn’s voice.

“Hey, G! I’m sorry, I was just checking in to make sure you got out alright,” Amber said into her phone.

“Hm? Oh, no. I never left,” Gwyn spoke nonchalantly. 

The blood drained from Amber’s face, “What?! Why? What happened?” 

“Nothing,” The echo of Gwyn’s voice confused her until she looked up to see the woman herself standing there.

“Gwyn!” She whisper-shouted, “What are you  _ doing?! _ Malum was  _ here _ the day Boss and I got  _ shot _ . He shot us himself!” 

“So it’s true,” She spoke coolly.

“W-what?” Amber had a sinking feeling.

“You’re her,” Gwyn clarified, “The Gh-”

Amber jumped Gwyn quickly, covering her mouth with a hand and dragging her into a closet so they could talk privately. 

Amber sighed, “How long have you known?”

“I didn’t know for sure until you just confirmed it, but I’ve suspected for a long time,” Gwyn admitted. 

“How’d you figure it out?” 

“Well,” Gwyn started, “You were always touchy about the topic of vigilantes. That was the first clue. When I brought up the Ghost you always got as pale as- well, a ghost, and then the thing with the guys in the alley was when I really started suspecting you were her. Then when you wouldn’t tell me anything more than what I knew is when I was almost sure. Malum introduced himself to the  _ Ghost _ , not you.”

Amber wanted to smack herself. 

“Also, you just asked me how long I’ve known, so it’s 100% now,” Gwyn stated

Amber ran a hand over her face, “That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here,”

“Oh, easy,” Gwyn said, “I wanted to hear it from you. Who you were,”

“And…?” Amber asked; Gwyn had a habit of beating around the bush.

“And I want to help you,”

“No,”

“What?”

“No. No way,” Amber whispered, “I’m not putting you in any more danger,”

“Amber, I won’t go with you until I’m done training,” Gwyn responded.

“I said no!” Amber and Gwyn glared at each other, “Who’s going to train you, huh? Who’s gonna stop you from dying if I’m fighting someone and you need help?”

“You do it every night Amber!” 

“And every night I get hurt!” She whisper-yelled at her.

Amber took a breath, “Look, I understand that you want to help, but there are new guys in town and they’ve been sending shipments every night since March. I wouldn’t have the time or patience to train you. Plus there’s the fact that I don’t want you to  _ die _ !” 

“Amber-”

“No! That’s enough! I’m not going to let you. You’re going to  _ leave _ Hell’s Kitchen if I have to  _ drag _ you out  _ myself _ !” Amber was breathing heavily, “Go home, pack your bags. I’ll take you to your mom’s or wherever you were staying,”

Gwyn’s jaw twitched, “I can do it myself,” And with that, she stormed out of the closet.

* * *

The Ghost sat back against the concrete wall of the building, popping the cap off of her beer bottle and taking a long sip. She didn’t much like the taste of beer, but she was having a bad day and if she started with something heavier she wouldn’t stop. The second part of her double-shift was awful, a customer spilled their drink on her and then blamed her for it. She sighed, watching Gwyn pack through the windows. Was she being a creeper? Yes. The Ghost had stopped caring a while ago. There was not a shipment tonight, the first night since March, and Ghost had the idea of keeping an eye on Gwyn when she could have gone back early to get some much-needed rest. She blew out another sigh and downed her beer. 

“Tough day?” The Ghost looked over to see Daredevil sit down next to her, across from Gwyn’s apartment.

“You could say that. Want a beer?” The Ghost grinned as she took out two more bottles from where she had hidden them here the other day. 

“When did you even find the time?” He laughed, taking one.

“About three days ago. Then I heard about another shipment,” The Ghost took a sip of her beer as the two sat in silence, “What have you been doing lately?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on Gwyn since she came back to town. Just in case,” He sighed, “Other than that, trying to figure out what the Hand’s master plan is. And why the ‘Black Sky’ is so important,”

“Hand? Black Sky?” The Ghost tilted her head as she turned to look at him, “Pretend for a second that I don’t understand anything you just said,”

He laughed, and then said in what was clearly an impression of her, “‘Fucking Ninjas’”

“Oh my God,” The Ghost joined in his laughter, smiling as they gazed at each other. 

If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that they were leaning closer together, thankfully, they were shaken out of their ‘trance’ by a voice shouting “Hey!” from across the street.

The two vigilantes looked up to see a pissed-looking Gwyn leaning out her window, “You assholes might as well come in,”

They glanced at each other before hurriedly rushing to Gwyn’s apartment. Once inside, she turned to them.

“What the hell is  _ wrong _ with you two?? I’ve already got my best friend up my ass, I don’t need her vigilante buddies too,” Gwyn glared at them, and the Ghost sighed inwardly in relief when Gwyn didn’t say anything about who she was.

“Ms, please, we just want to keep you safe,” Daredevil said, “You never know who-”

“I am an  _ excellent _ judge of character, thank you very much,” she thought for a moment, “Also a  _ paranoid _ excellent judge of character, you know, ever since I got kidnapped at a  _ gas station _ ,” 

“Look,” Daredevil continued, “I understand you think you know people, but these guys are professional-”

“Oh really?” Gwyn was simmering. 

Oh shit. She was going to do her thing, wasn’t she?

“You,” She looked Daredevil in the eyes, “You have always done your best to save civilians, at the expense of your own safety and your happiness, even if the bad guy gets away, at least you saved some lives. You had a rough childhood, when you were young you lost one or both of your parents in an accident, most likely your father/father figure to a mob or mafia of some sort, hence why you went after Wilson Fisk and other mob-affiliated criminals. You have enhanced senses, from all of our interactions you always seem to be listening to or smelling things that normal people can’t perceive, but you have a disability. You’re an only child and are used to taking care of yourself. You’re smart, well-educated and have a government job or something that relates to law enforcement, with a strong moral code. Despite that code, you know that some situations call for a more permanent solution, much like your Ghost friend. You desperately crave a gentle touch but you’re too afraid that if you let someone in because they’ll get hurt or end up leaving you.”

Gwyn stopped, her eyes dark as she turned her sights on the Ghost, leaving Daredevil gaping.

“How ‘bout you? Shall I do you next?” Gwyn asked, eyebrows’ raised.

“Gwyn-”

“The Ghost of Hell’s Kitchen,” She paused, “That’s what you were at first, wasn’t it? A ghost, you were never really there, just sticking to the shadows until you had a chance meeting with  _ him _ right?” she nodded towards Daredevil, “Close your mouth, sweetheart, you’ll catch flies,”

Gwyn turned back to the Ghost, “Now. Where were we? Oh yeah. You had several traumatizing experiences, starting when you were young. Your mother was abusive, your father tried his best, but your twin brother ran away,” 

The Ghost swallowed in shock, she had never told Gwyn about her brother…

“Then you were abused by your boyfriend until you became a vigilante and beat the crap out of him, leaving him for good. You had big dreams when you first moved to New York, being from Poland originally before moving to the U.S. Those dreams failed and you ended up with a crap job and an even crappier life. You never finished your college education, being stretched too thin to pay for more than a few years, but you wanted to go into some sort of science. Likely to do with agriculture. You don’t have enhanced senses like your boyfriend over there, but you might as well be enhanced with how strong you are, able to carry a grown man for miles or throw someone across the room, but that’s because you’re a hard worker and you don’t have it in you to quit. You have an extremely high tolerance for pain, but you can’t stand certain things that remind you of your abuse. You work a minimum wage job but recently got a job offer for a better paying job. Maybe a restaurant. Every time someone tries to touch you, you flinch away or try to minimize contact, both because you’re afraid that the person who’s touching you will harm you, or that you’ll harm them. Because of this, you’ve secluded yourself, tried to keep yourself away from everyone in order to keep everyone, including yourself, safe. But yet you are still touch-starved as hell,”

Gwyn stopped and the Ghost had tears in her eyes.

Gwyn looked back and forth between Daredevil and the Ghost, “Gods above, you guys are perfect for each other and you can’t even see it,” 

“What?” The Ghost and Daredevil spoke at the same time.

“Nevermind,” Gwyn rolled her eyes, “You guys can go, the sun’ll be up in a few hours and you _ both _ desperately need sleep. I’ll be fine,”

“Gwyn-”

“Just  _ go _ , A- Ghost!” Gwyn said, “You too, Daredevil.”

The Ghost sighed and jumped out of the window. Daredevil was just about to follow her when Gwyn grabbed his arm.

“What-”

“Take care of her, will you?” Gwyn asked him, “Without me, she’ll either drink or fight herself to death. So keep an eye on her okay?”

“I will,” He nodded to her, and jumped out after the Ghost.

“So Gwyn knows who you are?” Daredevil asked when he caught up with her, “How’d  _ that _ happen?”

She sighed, “It’s her ‘superpower,’ she can read body language and deduce people like Sherlock Holmes,” The Ghost looked at him, “If you ever meet her in the day without the mask, she will know immediately who you are. So if you see her, don’t talk to her, just leave,”

“Okay?” Daredevil grinned, “What do you think she meant when she said that ‘we are perfect for each other?’”

The Ghost groaned as she started into a run, “Great, now you’re going to be even  _ more _ insufferable than usual!”

Daredevil laughed.

* * *

Gwyn sat her suitcase down in the hidden room in her apartment. Yes, it was a pseudo-apocalypse shelter, she could admit that, filled with canned foods and water, and other necessities. She would stay in Hell’s Kitchen if it  _ killed _ her. She just needed to put on a show for Amber and her vigilante buddy. Gwyn sighed, using her hacking skills (She used to be a computer science major) to figure out who was skimming money from where. Then figuring out about dozens of illicit activities that she always could have found but didn’t have the urge to before. She found a perfect scenario, she could go out in a mask, bust some muggers, and prove to Amber she was capable. Gwyn smiled. She had her plan, and after this, there would be no way the Ghost  _ wouldn’t _ train her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please comment to tell me what you think, or give me feedback, or suggestions, or anything really. Back in chapter 4 I asked what you thought about “a second work that has information about the universe, artwork I/my friends/anyone do, little scenes from other times that I threw out from the story that was irrelevant, words of wisdom from Amber (Any new stuff would be updated with the chapters of this story), and various other things.” Please let me know about that, and I was hoping that after I was done with this I can write a series of prequels detailing events from Amber’s past (Her time with Garrett, her early life, etc). I would like to know if anyone would actually be interested enough to read it, or if I should just leave it alone. Please, if you have time comment and tell me. One last thing, have an idea for a fic involving Lex Luthor. (It wouldn’t be posted until this fic was completed or at least completely written) Because. I can. And I want to… unless yall say I will be shunned for writing *gasp* both marvel and DC fic. Anyway, Bye! -Σ


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOUBLE DIGITS OML. I never thought that this would get this far to be honest lol. I’m sorry I’m late BUT I actually have a good excuse this time. So, I had this chapter finished for like months but I may or may not have forgot my ao3 password and accidentally logged out ;-; Either way, I have reliable and available WiFi only once every two weeks unless my family goes to church, and to get my password changed I needed; reliable wifi, an apple device, a device without parental controls, alone time for like at least 5 minutes. So… Yeah. Sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!  
> I own nothing but my OC’s and the plot.

~~~~

Amber splashed water on her face, breathing heavily from her workout. Her watch told her it was nearing 8:30, which meant she had a half hour to get ready and be at Josie’s so she could kick everyone’s asses at Pool. She quickly toweled off her hair, putting in a bit of product because she could (She wasn’t doing it for Matt. He’s blind, it wouldn’t even make any sense. So no. Definitely not for Matt), before she pulled on her favorite sweatpants over her Ghost leggings and a sweater over her kevlar shirt. The rest of her Ghost attire was haphazardly thrown into her bag before she slipped on her shoes and walked out the door. She left behind her glasses for once, enjoying the lower light (The sun had set an hour ago) as she walked to Josie’s. Amber even had a small smile on her face as she walked up to the bar, seeing Matt and Karen playing against Foggy again. The three of them looked up as she walked in, Foggy smiling as he clapped her on the back (She didn’t even flinch that time).

“What’s up, Amber! How’s life been going for ya?” He grinned as Amber returned his smile.

“Great! Actually! I’m being promoted!” She left the part about her boss’s illness out, “This is the perfect way to celebrate,”

“That’s amazing Amber!” a tipsy Karen walked over (leaving Matt to aim without his eyes) and gave her a half hug, “Hey! Drinks on me! How you feel about shots?”

“I think that that sounds perfect,” Amber admitted, walking over to the pool table as Karen went to order the drinks.

“Hey, Matt!” Amber looked at where he was aiming, “A bit to the left,”

He adjusted and hit the ball into the socket on the first try. Impressive.

“Damn. Nice shot,” She leaned against the table and watched as he felt around to see where the balls were.

“The cue is the one to your left,” Matt smiled in thanks and brushed his hands lightly over the top.

Amber noticed the darts board for the first time, “Hey, ever played darts before?”

Matt barked a laugh, “Me and sharp objects? Not exactly a good combination,”

“Hah. Fair point, but it’s really fun when you get a hang of it, even if you miss the target,” Amber said as Matt turned around to join her leaning against the pool table.

“Okay, maybe you’re right,” he paused, “But doing it here wouldn’t be a good idea, I don’t want to accidentally hit someone with a dart,”

“Well, then it’s a good idea you’ve got me!” Amber hesitantly touched his shoulder, leading him to a spot in front of the dart board. 

“Here, you hold the dart like this,” Amber used her hands to mold his fingers around the dart, correcting his stance and moving his elbow to a more comfortable throwing position, “And then all that's left is to throw it with enough force to make sure it stays in the corkboard, which is about 6 feet in front of you,”

Matt nodded and concentrated, aiming at the board with Amber’s help and then throwing the dart.

Amber’s eyebrows raised comically as she looked at the dart in the wall.

“...Did I hit the board?” Matt asked hesitantly.

“No, sorry," Amber chuckled, "How about leaving the darts to me,"

“Drinks!” Karen and Foggy walked back over to the pool table each carrying a round of shots on a tray.

“Hey, Matt, can me and Foggy play a round? Or are you still playing your game?” Karen asked as she handed Amber and Matt their shots, taking one herself.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” He grinned, “I’m busy beating Amber at darts,”

Amber gasped in mock offense as Foggy snorted, “What’re we playing for, Karen?”

“Hm,” Karen paused and Amber watched their interaction, hyper-aware of how close Matt was standing next to her, “Winner chooses the movie at next movie night?”

“Done,” Foggy and Karen took another shot each before setting up their game.

“So you ready to be beaten by a blind guy?” Matt teased her.

“Oh, it is  _ on _ ,” She stalked over to the dart board and pulled Matts dart out of the wall, grabbing two more darts before walking halfway across the bar and turning so she was facing away from the dartboards, “Might want to move a bit to your left, Matt,”

He did and Amber took a deep breath, not caring about who was watching (Now about half the bar) as she spun and threw all three darts at once, making a perfect bullseye and two near-perfect ones on the sides. The game continued for a long while, Amber making trick shots and then helping Matt remember where the board was. After a particularly interesting trick, more than a few people started clapping, and Amber ended up taking a bow towards Foggy and Karen who were staring at her in shock.

“Where did you learn  _ that _ ?” Foggy asked, taking another shot (His 5th).

Amber grinned sheepishly at him and Karen, glancing over at where Matt was leaning against the pool table again, “Before I got a job, I used to hustle people at pool and darts,” she cringed a bit, “Not my best moment, but it’s better than when I was a pickpocket,”

“A pickpocket?” One of Matt’s eyebrows raised.

Amber grinned, “A damn good one too. Only got caught once,” 

“A woman of many talents,” Foggy pushed another shot glass into her hands, “To Amber and her crazy life!”

“I’ll drink to that,” Amber chuckled, checking her watch.

She almost choked on her drink when she saw that it was already 11:45, 15 minutes later than she had been intending on staying.

“Hey guys, I got to go, same time next week?” Amber asked as she started getting her things together to leave.

“Works for me,” Matt said, “I’ll walk you to a cab,”

“You don’t-”

“Don’t have to, I know,” Matt sighed, “I just want to,”

Amber ignored the implications of that statement as she held her bag close to her side, “Alright. Shall we go then?”

“We shall,” he smiled.

The two walked in a comfortable silence, Matt holding onto Amber’s upper arm.

“Amber, can I ask you something?” Matt stopped and turned to face her.

“You just did, but sure,” Amber smiled.

Matt laughed, “I was wondering if you’d like to go out for coffee sometime?”

Amber’s smile faded slightly, “I’d love to, Matt, really. But I’m not any good at relationships,” She paused, “My last serious relationships were four years ago, and you know how those ended up,” Amber scratched the back of her neck, “If I’m reading way too much into this, it’s totally fine. I’d love to go as friends, but I honestly don’t think I’m ready for a relationship,”

“I understand,” Matt looked sheepish, “It’s actually probably better that we stay friends, I have too many secrets to be in an honest relationship,”

“So we going for coffee then?” Amber asked hesitantly, hailing a cab before turning back to Matt.

He smiled, “Sure,” he paused, “Do I have your phone number?”

“I don’t think so. Here, hand me your phone and I’ll put it in,” Amber took the phone from his outstretched hand and put her number in, setting the ringtone to “Eye of The Tiger” before handing it back to him.

“You can call me tomorrow morning, I’ve got the afternoon shift,” Amber told him, “I put my contact in as ‘Amber’ so it’s the first one,” 

He smiled at her, taking back his phone, “Alright, I’ll call you tomorrow, have a good night,”

“I will, Mr. Murdock,” Amber joked teasingly, getting into the cab.

“As will I, Ms. Steel,” He said as Amber was driven away.

* * *

The Ghost breathed in the night air, leaning off of the roof of the building she was on, scanning the section of the city she could see. She was about to move on when she spotted a now-familiar flash of red in a nearby alleyway. She looked at the roof above the alleyway, which was about a story lower than the roof she was currently on, judging the distance before leaping, falling into a roll to distribute the impact throughout her armor. The Ghost broke into a silent sprint, diving off the side of the new building into the alley. Catching herself on the fire escape, The Ghost lowered herself down into the alleyway to asses the situation. She watched from the shadows, seeing several members of the Polish mafia fighting Daredevil, who was defending a figure on the ground. He was a good fighter, but there was some light from a nearby lamppost and there were lots of men to fight. She stayed silent, trying not to distract Daredevil from his fight. The Ghost completely abandoned that strategy when she saw some men get a few hits in, even more melting into the fight from the shadows. Ghost jumped off the fire escape and landed on the shoulders of the nearest man, snapping his neck before jumping off and drawing her weapons. Daredevil got his baton knocked away, the Ghost shoving a knife into his hands so he had a weapon before using a balisong to stab several people in quick succession. She nearly cried out in dismay when she saw more mafia men running down the alley towards them, and she quickly threw a knife into a man who had gotten his hands around Daredevil’s neck. The man choked on his own blood as the Devil removed the knife and used both of the knives to continue the fight. The Ghost was hit several times and had a cut on her forehead, but both she and Daredevil knew that the top priority was protecting the figure on the ground. The figure was a woman, she noticed as she and Daredevil stood on either side of her, a black hood and mask obscured most of her features but she looked to be in her twenties, with a bit of blonde hair peeking out from behind her hood. Shaking her head to get back into the fight, the Ghost grabbed her long knife and started to cut down the number of opponents she and the Devil were facing. The Fight went pretty quickly after Daredevil recovered his baton. He was alright with knives and had fantastic aim, but he was much better with his own weapons. Daredevil knocked out the last man, who fell into the circle of dead or unconscious men that surrounded them. The Ghost spun around a few times in quick succession, searching for any men about to attack them.

“That- That was a  _ bloodbath _ ,” The Ghost panted as she pulled some knives out of the men on the ground, “I don’t think I’ve ever killed so many men in one fight,”

“I try to avoid killing people,” Daredevil told her, “But sometimes, in the case of the Polish mafia especially, people need to be put down,”

“I get it. My death count wasn’t  _ nearly _ as high as when I just fought drug dealers and other common criminals,” She half-complained.

“You miss the easy life?”

“Not one bit,” She admitted, “Though I dream of a day when the world doesn’t need people like us,”

“It’d be nice,” He spoke silently before a groan from the figure on the ground caught their attention.

“Are you alright miss?” The Ghost kneeled down next to the woman, trying to help her sit until she reeled back in shock, “Gwyn?!” Ghost turned to Daredevil, “Did you know?!”

The devil had the audacity to look sheepish, “I smelled her perfume from a couple of blocks away,” He paused, “She actually fought really well until reinforcements came and she was overwhelmed,”

Ghost stood, pointing her long, bloody knife at Daredevil, “Don’t encourage her!” she turned back to Gwyn, “What were you  _ thinking _ ?? You could’ve gotten yourself killed! Hell, Daredevil and I almost got killed!” She took a deep breath, starting to pace, “Okay, what I’m trying to ask, is why in the  _ hell _ would anyone in their right mind  _ willingly _ go out and look for trouble?! Although you’re clearly  _ not _ in your right mind, so I can’t even say that,” 

Gwyn looked down, “You two go out every night,”

“Yes, but we’re insane,”

“I just wanted to help,” Gwyn said softly.

“I don’t care. No more vigilante work for you,” She paused, “You’re going to leave Hell’s Kitchen for real tomorrow. Now, where are you hurt?”

“Ghost-”

“This isn’t up for debate, Gwyn,” She told the bruised woman, “How hurt are you?”

“It’s not that bad, just some bruises and my arm-”

“Let me see,” The Ghost was back down by Gwyn in an instant, grabbing her arm to examine.

“It’s just a sprain,” She breathed in relief, “We’re taking you to Metro General to make sure you don’t have any other injuries, okay?”

Gwyns’ jaw twitched, “Alright,”

“Gwyn,” The Ghost stopped for a moment, “Please. Don’t do this again,” 

The Ghost turned away as Daredevil helped Gwyn to her feet.

* * *

Gwyn watched as the Ghost and Daredevil spoke with a dark-skinned nurse from her seat in the hallway. She had been doing good until one man became fifteen. Gwyn sighed and sat back, arm curled protectively around her (probably) bruised ribs and watched as her friend walked over to where she was sitting. The outward appearance of the Ghost was calm and collected, but Gwyn could tell that she was brimming with barely-contained rage. She flinched when Amber’s voice was cold and cruel, speaking to her condescendingly and with her old accent.

“You’re not to go out on the streets again,” She paused, “You’re to leave Hell’s Kitchen and you will not come back,”

She stayed silent, waiting until she was certain Amber wouldn’t be speaking again before saying, “No,”

“What?” Amber’s voice was eerily calm and Gwyn was almost worried that Amber would tie her up and ship her out regardless.

“I’m not leaving. If you want me to be safe, you’ll train me,” Gwyn spoke matter-of-factly.

“I don’t have time to train a spoiled rich kid, because unlike  _ you _ I actually  _ need _ to work,” She stopped, “And I do this or work out by  _ myself _ in almost all of my spare time. If I trained you, I’d have to sacrifice sleep and any time I get to spend with my friends. Do you understand?” 

“A, listen, I don’t ask for that much, just… show me how and I can practice, you know?” she watched Amber wince when Gwyn had said “A,” whoops.

“No,” The Ghost of Hell’s Kitchen picked her up (Ignoring her protests) and set her on a hospital bed and turned to the nurse, “Take care of her Claire, please,”

“Will do, Anna,” Claire turned to where she was sitting on the bed, “Lay down, please, I need to make sure you don’t have a concussion,” 

Gwyn obliged, and turned to look at Amber, only to find the vigilante nowhere to be seen.

* * *

“Wait, so let me get this straight,” Daredevil stared at her, “You carried me all the way to  _ Claire’s apartment _ when I had a concussion??”

“...Yes?” The Ghost grinned at him sheepishly.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you brought me there?” He asked.

“Because I thought you knew?” She smiled at him.

“So your name  _ is _ Anna then?” He grinned at her.

“Maybe. Maybe not. What’s it to you?” She grinned back and took a sip from her not-really-for-emergencies whiskey flask.

“I heard Gwyn call you ‘A’ so that basically wipes out about 95% of all names you can have,” He paused, “So,  _ Anna _ , why didn’t you tell me how strong you were?” 

“I try not to make hints at my actual identity  _ Mike _ ,” she grinned at his puzzled expression, “Claire told me what she used to call you. You know,  _ before _ she knew your real name. Honestly, Mike, I’m insulted,”

“Mike is totally my real name, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Daredevil grinned.

“Right, and Anna is mine-” She stopped talking as his head jerked up, like he heard something, “What is it?”

“A woman’s being mugged a block over, we got to go,” The Ghost followed as Daredevil ran off into the night, running towards a sound only he could hear.

The Ghost smiled to herself as she kept up with Daredevil, ready to do her service and protect Hell’s Kitchen. But it wasn’t just hers anymore, was it? She had help now, the devil of Hell’s Kitchen was her… Partner? Friend? The Ghost didn’t know. All she knew was that there was someone in danger and she and Daredevil were the ones to help them. It was all so much more complicated now, wasn’t it? Friends other than Gwyn, dealing with the Polish Mafia, and ninjas running around… Her train of thought was interrupted as she and Daredevil quickly fought and dispatched the mugger. 

“Are you alright, miss?” the Ghost watched as Daredevil bent down to help the woman, who stayed silent, “Miss?”

The scared woman moved away and frantically said something in sign language. 

“She’s deaf,  _ Mike _ ,” the Ghost pulled his arm to lead him away from the woman before signing, “Are you okay?”

The woman immediately relaxed, allowing the Ghost to help her up, signing “Yes”

“You speak sign language?” Daredevil cocked his head, reminding her of a curious puppy.

“Yeah,” She responded, before signing to the woman to stick to main roads and hail a taxi.

“Any other hidden skills?” He joked as they began walking together.

She kept pace with him, staying silent for a moment before responding, “I’m just mediocre at everything,” 

The two walked in silence, patrolling until the sun started to rise.

“I’ve got to go,” She said, facing him, “Sun’s almost up,”

“I should be getting home too,” he hesitated, “Do you have a burner phone? Something I can contact you on if I need to?” 

The Ghost paused, “Yeah. Do you?”

“Yeah, we can exchange numbers at a later date,” Daredevil stopped talking and listened for a moment, “I’m going to take care of one more thing before I go home,”

“Alright, good-” Daredevil was gone before she could finish her farewell.

* * *

Gwyn stared at the ceiling as Claire bandaged her ribs.

“So what exactly led to this?” Claire had asked.

“I’m an idiot. And I’m friends with a vigilante,” she admitted, “I just wanted to help,”

Claire sighed, “I get that. But last time I helped Daredevil I had to leave town for a few weeks because there were ninjas after me,”

“I don’t care about what happens to me,” Gwyn told the nurse, “I just want to help keep people safe.

“You sound like the Ghost,” Claire laughed, “Stay here for a moment, I’ve got to go grab some pain killers,”

Gwyn sighed and turned her head to face the counter. In a glass vase lay a single rose, it’s petals were black and shriveled, almost like blood, but still more black then red. She turned back to the ceiling, two words not leaving her head;

**Black Rose**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pay attention to those words, they’ll be important later. AAAAAAND now I’m going to c+p the words from the LAST end notes because guess what? I haven't had a comment since like chapter 7 and I’m losing my motivation. And cue rant. Back in chapter 4 I asked what you thought about “a second work that has information about the universe, artwork I/my friends/anyone do, little scenes from other times that I threw out from the story that was irrelevant, words of wisdom from Amber (Any new stuff would be updated with the chapters of this story), and various other things.” Please let me know about that, and I was hoping that after I was done with this I can write a series of prequels detailing events from Amber’s past (Her time with Garrett, her early life, etc). I would like to know if anyone would actually be interested enough to read it, or if I should just leave it alone. (Also, should I add a “Graphic Descriptions of Violence” tag?) Please, if you have time comment and tell me. One last thing, have an idea for a fic involving Lex Luthor. (It wouldn’t be posted until this fic was completed or at least completely written) Because. I can. And I want to… unless yall say I will be shunned for writing *gasp* both marvel and DC fic.   
> Alright, that's the rant. Btw I also have like 7 supernatural ideas so… yeah.  
> Anyway, Bye! -Σ


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s Wednesday, I know, just like last time, but it’s my birthday and I wanted to post today. Once again I have to apologize about the hiatus, it was not intentional and I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I enjoy writing and I want to keep to the “schedule” as much as I can. Anyway, another filler-ish chapter (I’m sorry) but I’m setting some major events into motion, and revealing something that probably won’t be a surprise. Last thing for these notes, Daredevil and the Ghost traded burner phone numbers somewhere between this chapter and the previous one, I was too lazy to write it in the actual chapter.  
> I own nothing but my OC’s and the plot.

Amber was nervous. She and Matt were out for their coffee, and she hadn’t been on a “date” (it was  _ not _ a date) with someone for so long. Amber took a deep breath, calming herself before helping Matt to a table (if it happened to be the table that was within sight of all exits no one had to know). She asked what he wanted and walked up to the counter to order, before sitting down across from Matt.

“So, for the sake of dispelling awkwardness, wanna tell me something about yourself?” Amber asked him jokingly.

Matt laughed in response, “What do you want to know? My hobbies include playing pool and reading, what else is there to know?”

“Okay, how about work stuff? I am about to be promoted to manager of my restaurant. it's going to be taking almost all my spare time, training me up for the business world… it’s going to be awful, I’m guessing. Oh the days when all I had was work and Gwyn.” She smiled.

Matt chuckled, “You miss the easy life?” 

Amber’s smile fell off her face, “No, not really.” 

Didn’t… Didn’t Daredevil ask her the same question the other night in the alleyway? Amber squinted at him, heart beating quicker for a moment before she got herself under control.

“So what’s going on in Nelson and Murdock? Anything interesting happening?” She asked, plastering the smile back on her face.

Was there some way that Matt knew more about Daredevil than he let on? The Ghost would have to visit Matt if so. 

She really didn’t want to do that.

She distracted herself from those thoughts by listening to Matt talking about an interesting man he met in Josie’s the other day. 

Amber felt a smaller, fond smile replace the fake-ish one that had previously inhabited her face. She and Matt were closer emotionally than she had originally expected them to be. At first, he seemed more of a serious, emotionally detached type. Now she saw how wrong she really was; Matt could make her laugh on the worst of her days, make her fond at the little acts of kindness he was always trying to perform, and the way he could turn any fact in his favor was probably the most intriguing. One thing she learned very early on: Never argue with Matt Murdock. She was jolted back into the present by their coffees arriving. Amber thanked the woman and gave her a decently large tip, she knew that the standard tips never went very far. 

“Do you box?” Matt asked her suddenly, out of the blue.

Amber laughed nervously, “No, I mostly only know self defense and some karate. Do you?” 

He smiled, “Yes, my father was a boxer, I always loved to watch him fight before my… accident,” 

“I wish I could have met him,” Amber spoke softly.

“Me too, he was a good man,” he responded. He sipped his coffee in relative silence for a moment before asking, “Are you okay?”

“What? Why do you ask?” Amber was not, in fact, okay. 

She had been spiraling for awhile now but it had just suddenly gotten worse, like she had been pushed off a cliff. Amber was terrified because she might actually  _ like _ someone as more than a friend. And that couldn’t happen. It was basically the number one rule in the hero/vigilante rule book: you can’t have significant others. 

“You just seem like you’re lost in thought,” he paused, “I just don’t want you to have to deal with whatever it is that you’re dealing with alone,” 

“T-that’s- very, uh, thoughtful of you, I just… it’s kind of not something anyone but me could really help with… but thank you, really.” She chuckled, “I think you’re more perceptive than people who can see,”

A bright grin appeared on Matt’s face.

The two finished their coffees and started walking, Amber holding out her arm for Matt to use. The two walked in companionable silence, enjoying each others company and the sounds of New York. Eventually, they had to part ways, both having work to do. Amber told him to have a nice day, that they should do this again soon, and to call her before the taxi drove away. The taxi ride wasn’t long, and soon enough the taxi pulled up next to the restaurant. She was surprised when she saw Boss walking out to greet her. 

“Hey Boss, what’s going on?” She asked him, as he approached her.

“I have a doctors appointment, I was wondering if you could fill in for me. I’ll pay you overtime, of course,” Boss looked embarrassed at having to even ask.

“Sure, what time do I stay till?” 

“Just until 6, that’s when I usually leave and my assistant takes over,” he said.

“Alright, that works perfectly. Have any paperwork you want me to go through? I don’t want you to be stressed about it during your appointment,” she told him.

“No,” he said simply as a taxi pulled up, “finished everything late last night after I got the call about the appointment. I was going to call, but I didn’t want to wake you so I figured I’d just do everything I needed to do in case you couldn’t stay.”

“Alright. Hope it goes well!” She waved goodbye and walked into the restaurant, pulling off her shades.

As she sits down on the chair in her bosses office, she quickly organizes everything before glancing at her watch. 

Amber sighed. 6 minutes until her shift still. Attempting to alleviate her boredom, she decided to chill in the actual break room. She was still uncomfortable in her bosses office, though it would be hers in the near future. 

Amber quickly put on her work shirt and hung her purse in her locker before turning and almost running into a dark skinned woman with long brown hair pulled into countless tiny braids. The woman stood with a bit of an angry expression and hands on her hips.

“You, blind girl, I don’t know your name,” she was kind of rude, “Are you and Boss man fucking?” 

Amber’s eyebrows raised, “I’m sorry? No, Boss and I are not sleeping together,” 

She didn’t look convinced, “Hon, we all see you walk in and out of that office all the time, it’s not exactly going to surprise anyone,”

“No! I swear! I’m- I’m going to succeed him, he’s training me, taking me to board meetings and helping me figure out paperwork,” Amber said exasperated.

“...Why you?” She asked, “If I thought anyone would be succeeding Boss, it’d be Gwyn. Although, I think she might have moved away, she hasn’t come to work in awhile.”

“She’s staying with a relative, I’ve been taking over her shifts so Boss didn’t have to let her go. And as for why me… that’s a good question,” Amber told the woman, “What’s your name?”

“Alaena Henry, what’s yours?” She backed up slightly, the confrontational look on her face was replaced with a small smile, “You know Gwyn that well?” 

“Amber Steel, and yes. She’s my best friend,” Amber held out her hand for Alaena to shake, impressed by the girls’ strong grip.

“That’s awesome. I’ve got to go now, but it’s nice to actually meet you and see that you’re not the asshole everyone calls you,” Aleana grinned.

“I’ve got to go to my shift, I’m covering for Boss afterward,” she smiled, “It was nice to meet you,” 

Amber left her to start serving some tables, getting the one table with rich customers. Overall, they were pretty tolerable, but clearly used to being waited on hand and foot. The rest of the waitressing shift passed without much incident. She was relieved once it was over, ready to study for her future job. She sat down in Boss’s chair at his desk, looking through records and memorizing how it was all put together. After about 20 minutes of reading through records, the sound of the door opening and closing made her look up. Her stomach dropped and she grabbed the gun mounted under the desk, pointing it at Malum as she slowly stood. 

“Drop your weapons, I’m calling the police,” she spoke with a deadly calm voice.

He held up his hands, “I am unarmed,” he spoke in a Polish accent, “I just want to talk,”

“Last time you ‘just wanted to talk’ Boss and I got shot, and you threatened to kill everyone in the restaurant. You’re lucky I pulled the fire alarm when I did,” Amber held the gun pointed directly at his head.

“Ah that was you?” He chuckled, “Just please, hear me out,”

“Two minutes, and then I’ll shoot,” she told him.

“That’d be murder, Miss,” he smiled.

“I know some fantastic lawyers,” she cocked the gun, “Now you’ve only got 90 seconds, just for wasting my time,” 

“Okay, okay,” he paused, “I want to offer a deal. You give me a quarter of your profits every month, and I will give you my and my… organization’s protection,”

“No, 65 seconds,” she told him.

“Now, I really don’t think that’s a smart decision. This is a dangerous neighborhood,” he looked like he was trying to reign in anger from her refusing his initial deal.

“It’s Hell’s Kitchen, it’s all dangerous,” she told him, “45 seconds,” 

“That doesn’t change anything, you are all still in danger without my protection,” Malum was getting frustrated, angry that Amber didn’t budge.

“You’re not doing anything to convince me. Hurry, 30 seconds,” 

Malum snapped, “Fine! I’ll leave, but be warned: there will come a day you will regret everything you’ve ever done,”

That statement shocked her to the core, she lowered the gun slowly, flipping the safety on and putting the gun on the desk. Those were the last words she ever heard her brother say. She walked forward, looking at the confused man with awe.

She reached up and brushed his cheek, “...Amar?” His eyes widened in fear as she said his real name, “Is it really you?”

“A-Amber, I- we’ve been looking for you,” his eyes shone with tears, “It’s been so long, once I heard that you were in town I-I had to find you,”

She seemed like she was about to hug him, but jerked away suddenly, curling into herself as a tear ran down her face, “I know what you’ve done,” she whispered, “You’re a monster,” 

“Amber, I run this port, it’s just a stop, I don’t get the kids myself,” he sighed, reaching for her, “It’s awful but I live like a king. Join me, leave this place, I’ll show you my home… we can share my empire… you’ll never have to work again!”

Amber swatted his hand away, “Get out. How could you do this? To  _ children _ ?! Even after what happened to me?” she closed her eyes to keep from crying, “Leave Hell’s Kitchen. Or else,” she looked directly into his red-rimmed eyes, “You’re not my brother anymore,”

Amar Malum clenched his jaw, more in sadness than anger, “No. No I’m not,” he walked out, slamming the door.

Amber sat down at the desk, crossed her legs and folded her hands. Her back was straight and her eyes were closed. Amber lasted five minutes before she started to cry.

* * *

The Ghost held her arms out to her sides, cloak flapping in the wind. She was standing on the edge of a beam there purely for construction workers’ use. The Ghost listened to the wind, eyes shut and hood pooled around her neck. She was at least 20 stories high, the highest unfinished building in Hell’s Kitchen, just waiting. She had places to patrol, shipments to track down, but she needed the blessed silence. She was going to attempt something, something insanely dangerous that only whiskey could give her the courage to do. Her cloak was tied to her legs, the ends held tightly in her fists. With her arms spread, the cloak looked like wings. She opened her eyes suddenly, and looked down. On the building across the street, (couldn’t have been more than three stories) she noticed three Polish Mafia men talking. Ghost was a bit worried, she had never tried to do this at such a height before, but any good judgement she had was gone the moment she took down her bottle of whiskey. She took a deep breath, her adrenaline spiking drastically, before she jumped off the building and glided semi-smoothly to the roof of the building. She rolled as she landed and released her cloak, pulling knives and dispatching two of the men in quick succession. The third she just stared at for a moment before sheathing her knife and walking towards him. The man was paralyzed with fear, eyes wide and blue. They reminded her of her brothers. 

“Where’s the next shipment and when is it coming in?” She growled in her Polish accent.

“N-no, I- No, I don’t know,” he stuttered, fear growing as she grew nearer and pulled out her long knife from where it was hidden in the back sheath beneath her cloak.

“Liar,” she hissed, eyes dark with anger as she pushed the man almost off the buildings edge, holding his shirt with one hand and putting her long knife against his throat with the other, “Tell me!”

“Th-the docks! Tonight! At two! P-p-please let me live!” He stuttered, begging. 

The Ghost noticed how young he was, and pulled him back on the roof. 

“Good answer,” she knocked him over the head. 

The man (boy) crumpled to the ground unconscious. The Ghost broke his phone, and then used her extra ties to bind him, leaving him there to wake up on his own. The Ghost checked her watch, it was 15 before one. She decided to lay in wait at the docks, quickly climbing a taller building, at least 30 stories, until she could see the docs. She tied her cloak back in position before she jumped again, her gliding skills had improved slightly since her last jump. There was a tallish building in her way, and she managed to pull up enough to reach the roof. The Ghost broke into a run and leaped gracefully through the air once she reached the end of the roof, falling back into her gliding. She ended up catching herself on the fire escape of the building overlooking the docks, watching for any activity. She saw a boat in the distance, soon to be pulling in to the port, and glided down to the ground, ready to fight the mafia and free the children. 

“Have you always been able to fly?” A voice from the shadows made her jump, automatically drawing and throwing a knife at the voice.

Thankfully, she realized who it was and altered her aim just in time, the knife hitting the wall instead of the figure.

“Daredevil!” She whisper-shouted, “Don’t scare me like that! You’re lucky I had quick enough reflexes to change the target!” 

She sighed when he chuckled, “Just, be careful, please. I don’t want to hurt you,”

“Oh you don't?” He grinned at her, “That’s not what you told me the other day.”

The Ghost relaxed a bit, falling into the playful banter easily, even after her rough day.

“So how are you flying then?” Daredevil asked her suddenly, “Is it the cloak?”

She smiled slightly at his perceptiveness, “Yeah, I designed it to be able to glide but I only did it from small heights before. It works though, so I’m happy,”

“That’s awesome… So I may have been bored and heard you fighting so I maybe kinda followed you here,” he sheepishly admitted.

“I’m being stalked by the devil,” she said seriously, before she and Daredevil both fell into a laughing fit, “Might not want to say that one too loud. So you really have no reason to be here?”

“Well,” he started, “It's a dock, so I assume there’s a shipment?”

“Yep,” She was sad, thinking about her conversation with  Amar Malum, “I hate that this is happening, no one should have to go through this, much less children.”

“I know, but they are so we need to save them,” he said, hand on her shoulder, “It’s not fair, but it is what it is. At least, until we take care of the entire Polish mafia, that is.”

She nodded, ready to fight as she saw the ship docking. Anger filled her veins as she got ready to fight, watching the chained children being led from the boat. Daredevil and her ran at the same moment, each going a different direction, picking off guards one by one. Soon enough, the children were free, and the vigilantes were quite beat up. After the thanks and the crying, they were escorted to the nearest station to get to safety. Once everyone was safely inside, Daredevil and the Ghost climbed to the tallest building so that Daredevil could listen for any crimes being committed. 

“Hey, what’s going on with the ninjas lately?” Ghost asked.

“They’re part of an organization called ‘The Hand,’ which sounds ridiculous, but they’re old and have a rivalry with someone or something called an ‘Iron Fist,’”

“You’re right, that does sound ridiculous,” she smiled, “Ever figure out what the ‘Black Sky’ was?”

“Sort of,” Daredevil hesitated, “It’s complicated,”

The Ghost wanted to ask, but she figured she better stick mostly with the Polish Mafia before taking on the Hand too. She thought of the amount of liquid courage she had drank earlier, before her shower, wondering if Daredevil could smell the alcohol. 

“Hey, devil?” He turned more fully towards her voice, “Have you ever liked someone?” She nearly cringed, what the fuck was she doing?

Daredevil grinned, “Ooooh, does someone have a crush?” 

She grimaced, turning away, “No, I’m just wondering if I’m the only one who feels like they can’t risk having someone… I don’t want to put anyone in danger, much less people I’m close to.”

Daredevils teasing grin fell off his face and a smaller, genuine smile appeared, “I can’t answer that. It’s a calculated risk that you need to take, dating someone outside the life… there are lots of variables, and it requires a lot of thought from both parties,” he paused, gauging her reaction, “If there’s mutual attraction, then start out just being friends until you trust them enough to tell them your secret. Honesty is a good polic-” 

The Ghost pressed her lips against his, the whisky letting her ignore his surprise until he gently pushed her away.

“Ghost, have you been drinking… whiskey?” She thought back to the reasons she  _ didn’t  _ drink whiskey normally. 

“Just a little,”  _ a lot. _

“Are you drunk?”

“No,”  _ yes.  _

“Don’t lie, I can always tell,” he scolded, leaning against the wall that blocked off the edge of the roof.

“You said it’s a big risk to be close to anyone outside the life, but you’re in it and I honestly don’t trust myself to be alone right now. I’ll either fight or drink myself to death. And on top of that I just figured out that not only is Malum the king of human trafficking, he’s also my  _ twin brother _ who I thought was dead for the past 12 years and I don’t know what to do with that information, so I’ve just been drinking whiskey which I  _ hate _ because it kills any good judgement that I might have had, and makes me impulsive, and I’m completely dumping all my shit on you which sucks cause you’ve probably got all your own stuff to deal with and it’s a really shitty of me to do but I can’t seem to stop talking-”

Daredevil kissed her back, and she fell into it. She forgot everything with Malum, her boss, her developing crush on Matt, the Gwyn problem… it all went out the window once she finally had something to focus on. And dammit why does he have to be good at  _ everything _ ?! The Ghost shut down her mind as she reached up to stabilize herself, hand resting on his shoulder. He moved one of his arms around her waist, and the other rested on her back, fingers grazing her neck. She shivered when he pulled away suddenly, all coherent thought gone out the window.

“Um thank you?” Damn whiskey. Fuck.

Daredevil smirked, just looking at her for a moment before his head jerked up. 

He seemed to be listening for a moment before looking back at the Ghost, “It’s Gwyn, she’s in trouble,” 

The Ghost cursed, pulling herself away from Daredevil before running and jumping off the edge of the building. She looked back to see a falling Daredevil who continued to catch himself on fire escapes. Damn talented vigilantes. The two arrived just in time to stop the girl in black from being stabbed, taking out the two muggers in quick succession.

The Ghost helped Gwyn stand up, “You are an idiot! What have I told you about going out in the field??”

“To not to,” she grinned, winking at Daredevil before pulling the Ghost into a random hug to whisper in her ear, “We are going to talk about your kiss with Daredevil later,” 

She winced as Daredevil stifled a chuckle, hearing Gwyn's words clear as day.

“Go home, Gwyn,” the Ghost told her, “You too, Daredevil, I’ve got patrol covered for tonight,”

He nodded at her, jumping up and scaling a building before disappearing. 

“I’m not going to listen to you until you agree to train me,” Gwyn crosses her arms, a defiant look on her face.

The Ghost groaned in exasperation, “I will  _ think about it _ . But if I see or hear of you on the streets before I’ve made my decision, I will tie you up and ship you to your parents house myself.”

Gwyn glared at her, looking like she was about to put up a fight before she deflated, sighing, “I can’t out-stubborn the Ghost of Hell’s Kitchen, it’s impossible,” she paused, “Fine, I’ll go home. Just don’t take too long deciding, please,” 

The Ghost watched, her feelings of sadness caused by the situation returning tenfold as her friend walked out of the alley on her way home.

* * *

Amber sat up the moment her alarm went off, slightly grumpy and glad she had a day off. She hadn’t slept last night, too busy listing pros and cons of training Gwyn to be a vigilante. Amber stood up from her bed, stretching her aching bones. Finally, after hours, she had a decent plan. She would train Gwyn, just to keep her off of the streets. Maybe after a few days of training she’d decide it was too much work, or it wasn’t worth it, and give up. She laughed at the thought, there was no way that’d happen. Despite what Gwyn said, Amber was much less stubborn than her. She sighed, picking up her phone and dialing Gwyn’s number. She waited for half a minute before Gwyn picked up, sleep in her voice as she greeted Amber.

Amber took a deep breath, “I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to heat up. I’m excited, are you excited? Next chapter will probably be on next Friday or Saturday, sorry, but I can’t keep posting on Wednesday’s. Now the rant! Back in chapter 4 I asked what you thought about “a second work that has information about the universe, artwork I/my friends/anyone do, little scenes from other times that I threw out from the story that was irrelevant, words of wisdom from Amber (Any new stuff would be updated with the chapters of this story), and various other things.” Please let me know about that, and I was hoping that after I was done with this I can write a series of prequels detailing events from Amber’s past (Her time with Garrett, her early life, etc). I would like to know if anyone would actually be interested enough to read it, or if I should just leave it alone. (Also, should I add a “Graphic Descriptions of Violence” tag?) Please, if you have time comment and tell me. One last thing, I have an idea for a fic involving Lex Luthor. (It wouldn’t be posted until this fic was completed or at least completely written) Because. I can. And I want to… unless yall say I will be shunned for writing *gasp* both marvel and DC fic.   
> Alright, that's the rant. Btw I also have like 7 supernatural ideas so… yeah. I’d like to make some graphics featuring Ambers’ memorable quotes. If you see any, comment and tell me so I can make them. I’ll post them at the end of chapters.  
> Anyway, Bye! -Σ

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I hoped you enjoyed it. *Awkward finger guns* please leave me a comment to let me know about any suggestions for coming chapters, mistakes I missed, or if you just want to tell me how you liked it/didn’t like it. As long as you are kind and respectful I would like your opinions. Also, updating schedule? I don’t know what I’m gonna do, I’m thinking one every other week maybe, or once a week? I’ll try for it but I don’t want to give you a bad chapter once a week if I can’t get enough time to edit everything. Sry about longish Author’s notes. Bye! -Σ


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